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THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS 
SERIES. 

BY ELIZABETH W. CHAMPNEY. 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS ABROAD. 
THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN ENGLAND. 
THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN SOUTH AMERICA. 
THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN ITALY. 
THREE VASSAR GIRLS ON THE RHINE. 
THREE VASSAR GIRLS AT HOME. 
THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN FRANCE. 
THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN RUSSIA AND 

TURKEY. 
THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN SWITZERLAND. 
THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE TYROL. 
THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



ESTES AND LAURIAT, Publishers, 
BOSTON, MASS. 



Three Vassar Girls 



in 



THE HOLY LAND 




BY 

ELIZABETH WfCHAMPNEY 

AUTHOR OF 

"A NEGLECTED CORNER OF EUROPE," "THREE VASSAR GIRLS ABROAD," 

"THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN ENGLAND," ETC. 



ILLUSTRATED 

9 1892 

BOSTON 

ESTES AND LAURIAT 

PUBLISHERS 












V 



^o 



Copyright, 1892, 
By Estes and Lauriat. 



FHB LIBRARY^ 
[OF CONGRESS 

WASHINGTON 



SEnibcrstts ^|rcss: 
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter • p AGE 

I. A Peculiar Girl n 

II. Egypt, Cairo, and the Nile 27 

III. The Mystery Disclosed 53 

IV. A Caravan Journey 74 



V. Why the Oldest Obelisk Stands 



93 



VI. In the Footsteps of Moses. — The Desert and Mount Sinai . . . 105 

VII. Jerusalem 131 

VIII. Jerusalem (Continued) 163 

IX. Bethlehem. — Easter Ceremonies in Jerusalem 199 

X. The Journey Northward 224 

XI. Beirut. — Damascus 248 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Page 

A Vision of Egypt Frontispiece 

A Daughter of Egypt 13 

Old Street in Jerusalem ...... 17 

The Summit of Mount Hor ...... 21 

An Egyptian Temple 25 

Alexandria . . 29 

Turkish Merchant 3 1 

Karnak, Hypostyle Hall 41 

Colonnade, Philas . . 45 

A Jew of Palestine 51 

Valley of Jehoshaphat. — Tombs of Zech- 

ariah and Jehoshaphat ..... 54 

Interior of a Mosque 63 

Pyramids and Sphinx 71 

Arabs of the Desert . ....... 81 

Medinet, Court of Rameses ..... 85 

Medinet, Temple-Palace of Rameses . . 87 

Obelisk of On 90 

The Sphinx and Pyramids of Memphis . 94 

Moslem at Prayer 97 

Island of Philae, looking over the Nile . 99 

Head-dress of Egyptian Girl . „ . . 106 

Egyptian Hieroglyphics 113 

Ancient Egyptian Ruins in the Desert . 115 

Wells in the Desert 120 

Christian and Mahometan Chapels on 

Mount Sinai 125 

Jaffa, from the North ....... 130 



Page 

Jaffa 133 

The Tower of Ramleh 137 

The Plain of Sharon 139 

Entrance to Church of Holy Sepulchre . 141 

St. Stephen's Gate, Jerusalem .... 142 

Route from Jaffa to Jerusalem .... 143 

Tomb of Absalom 146 

" David " Tower, Jerusalem 147 

Synagogue, Jerusalem 149 

Tomb of Saint James 150 

Valley of Jehoshaphat, showing Tomb of 

Absalom and Garden of Gethsemane 151 

Interior, Church of St. James, Jerusalem 153 

Armorial Ensigns of Jerusalem . . . . 154 
Street of the Chevaliers de Rhodes, at 

Rhodes . . , 155 

Quarry under Jerusalem 157 

The Jews' Wailing Place 160 

Views near Jerusalem . 165 

Bida's Interpretation of Christ's Trium- 
phal Entry into Jerusalem . . . 169 
Jerusalem, from the Bethany Road . . 171 

Garden of Gethsemane 172 

Chapel of the Ascension, Summit of 

Mount of Olives 173 

Bethany 177 

Near Bethany 179 

The Mosque of Omar , . 181 



IO 



ILL US TR A TIONS. 



Page 

Interior of the Mosque of Omar . . . 185 
Jewish Almshouses, erected by Sir Moses 

Montefiore ,.189 

Turkish Woman of Jerusalem . . . . 191 
Head-dress of a Turkish Woman of . 

Jerusalem 195 

Rachel's Sepulchre ........ 204 

Church of the Nativity, at Bethlehem . 207 

A Woman of Bethlehem 209 

Entrance to Cave of Adullam . . . . 213 

Abraham's Oak, near Hebron . . . . 218 

Tomb of the Holy Sepulchre .... 221 

Arab Camps 225 

Maiden of Palestine 227 

Jacob's Well 228 

Mount Hermon 229 



Page 

Sea of Galilee 231 

Hills overlooking the Sea of Galilee . . 233 

The Lake of Gennesareth 234 

Fountain of Mary. Nazareth 236 

The Ruins of Tell Hum 238 

Monastery of Mount Carmel .... 241 

Promontory of Carmel 242 

Mouth of the River Kishon . . , . . 243 

Acre 244 

Cana 245 

Fountain at Cana 246 

Mount Lebanon, from Beirut .... 249 

A Ford of the Jordan ....... 258 

Damascus 259 

Cedars of Lebanon 271 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE 
HOLY LAND. 



CHAPTER I. 



A PECULIAR GIRL. 




AY what you may, Violet, you cannot deny that there 
is something very funny about her." 

" I am afraid I am lacking in a sense of humor, 
for I see nothing amusing in Bird ; and she herself 
takes life with great seriousness." 
" Now, Violet, you know perfectly what I mean by funny. Bird 
Orchard is fascinating, but she is queer. She is different from any 
one else we know. You must confess that she is a peculiar girl." 
" If you mean that she is peculiarly nice — yes." 
Emma Constant tapped her foot impatiently. " I like frankness 
and open-heartedness. I never had anything to conceal in my life," 
she said, " and I am not fond of mysterious secrets and incomprehen- 
sible enigmas. When there is so much concealed, you may be sure 
that there is reason for concealment, — that all is not as it should be." 
" Emma, this is not like you, to suspect evil in any one so sweet 
and lovely as my dear Bird. She may have some sorrow in her 
family history, but I am positive that there is no disgrace there." 



12 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

" I am not so sure," Emma replied sententiously. " I have 
watched that <z\x\ for a loner time, and I am convinced that there is 
something wrong about her. As long as she kept herself to herself it 
was none of my business ; but since I have seen the ascendency which 
she has gained over you, I feel that you ought to know more about 
the girl whom you are making your most intimate friend. You have 
been class-mates here at Vassar for the entire course, and what do 
you know of her? For that matter what does any one know of 
her?" 

" I know that she is a high-minded, noble-hearted girl, who has 
always attracted me, and until this year has persistently eluded me. 
She holds the head of the class easily in modern languages, and 
Professor Ritter says she is the most sympathetic musician in the 
college. He said last week that she had an innate musical feeling, 
which must have been inherited from a long line of musicians or 
lovers of music ; and Bird flushed with pride, and confessed that her 
father had been her teacher, though he was only an amateur, and 
that her brother was a fine violinist and they were in the habit of 
playing Mozart's chamber-music together when they were children. 
' It was my father's only delight and only extravagance,' she said 
' He always subscribed to the Philharmonic, and preferred having a 
box at the Opera to belonging to any of the clubs which New York 
gentlemen seem to feel so necessary to their enjoyment.' Now, a man 
with such refined tastes as that can scarcely be a criminal." 

" I did not say that he was necessarily a criminal," Emma replied. 
" But what you have said proves nothing, except that he is fond of 
music, and, although wealthy, is not fond of the society of other 
gentlemen. This mania for solitude is then a family characteristic. 
It may point to insanity instead of crime;" 

" Emma Constant, how can you talk so ? Bird is the sanest, the 
most common-sensible girl in the class. Look at the way in which 
she managed the finances of the Literary Society. She accepted the 




A DAUGHTER OF EGYPT. 



A PECULIAR GIRL. 



15 



chairmanship of the Executive Committee when we were in debt four 
•hundred dollars ; and it was her head for business that put the society 
on its feet. It was the same thing with the publication of the Mis- 
cellany. After she became manager of the advertising department 
the money simply rolled in, and we had to call a meeting of the stock- 
holders to decide what to do with the surplus. When I asked her 
how she ever learned the secret of making money she said, very 
simply, ' I inherited it, I suppose. Our people always had the repu- 
tation of possessing the Midas touch, but it was only fidelity to good 
business principles.' " 

A thoughtful look came into Emma's face. " She is less guarded 
with you in speaking of her relatives than with the rest of us. What 
besides this has she ever said of her father ? " 

"•Very little. They came to America from England when Bird 
was a little girl ; but her father was not pleased with America, and has 
gone back with his wife, leaving Bird in charge of her brother who 
graduates this season at Harvard and will then enter a bank in 
New York." 

" This would seem to point to English extraction, and yet Bird 
does not look at all English. I would have thought her Spanish, — and 
yet not exactly Spanish either, though she has those marvellous 
Andalusian eyes, jetty black hair and a ' mat ' complexion. Perhaps 
she is more like the Portuguese. There is something: South-of- 
Europe about her, you may be sure. Do you remember how wonder- 
fully she made up in the tableaux as a maid of Athens ? I should not 
wonder if she came of Greek ancestry. If she were just a shade 
darker one might imagine her an Arab. Do you remember when the 
tableaux were arranged the manager at first decided that she must be 
a Cleopatra. How magnificently she would have looked with the 
Nile, an Egyptian temple, and some palm-trees in the background ! 
But she seemed really insulted, and asked if we imagined that she was 
an octoroon that we assigned her such a part." 



1 6 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

" Why not believe that she is simply English ? The name is 
English enough." 

" The name is one of the things that troubles me," Emma replied, 
" it sounds so made up, so unlikely to be a real name. Bird Orchard ! 
It is like a nom-de-plume or the assumed name of an opera singer. 
There is no vraisemblance about it." 

" Do you mean to insinuate that Bird has entered the college 
under an assumed name ? " 

" It seems a harsh thing to say, but there are several circumstances 
which have forced that suspicion upon me. I know that I am likely 
to lose your affection by this plain speaking ; but I must put you on 
your guard, even if you misunderstand my motive. I hate deceit 
and subterfuges, and Bird is full of them. Watch her for a time in 
the light of what I have said, and if I am wrong I will beg your 
pardon and hers." 

Violet was inwardly raging, but with remarkable self-control she 
had maintained a calm exterior. She spoke now with icy distinctness. 
"You need never beg Bird's pardon, for I shall be careful not to 
wound her sensitive feelings by allowing her to imagine your sus- 
picions. Nothing that you have said, or could say, could make me 
lose my faith in her. I am sorry that you have so little discrimination. 
I should think that one glance at Bird's face would put to flight any 
doubts that you may have formed in regard to her. I am very proud 
that she has selected me from all the other girls as her friend ; and if 
you at all value my friendship, I desire you never to say anything 
against her to me again." 

Emma Constant coolly elevated her eyebrows, and picking up her 
Greek lexicon left the room. Violet, much excited, strode up and 
down the apartment muttering to herself, " The very idea ! An 
assumed name ! How perfectly absurd ! Why, one might as well say 
that because Emma's own name, Constant, fits her to a T, that it must 
be assumed. Orchard is an odd name to us, but I have no doubt that 




OLD STREET IN JERUSALEM. 



A PECULIAR GIRL. 



19 



it is common enough in England." Then she paused suddenly in her 
wild walk as she remembered having been with Bird a lone time ago 
when the lady principal had objected to her handing in a pet name for 
the college catalogue. " Give me your other true name if you please," 
she had said, in her severe manner. 

Bird had looked up quite startled. " My true name?" she repeated 
in a dazed way. 

" Yes, my dear, Pussie and Dollie and Birdie are not dignified 
enough to have A. B. written after them. Catharine and Dorothy are 
much more suitable names for a college catalogue. I must ask you 
to give me your baptismal name." 

A deep red spot glowed on Bird's cheek as she replied, " I have 
never been christened. I did not know that the rite was a requisite 
for admission to college, and I can give you no other name than 
'Bird.'" 

The lady principal looked troubled. " I did not mean to grieve 
you, my dear ; and if you have not a more dignified name, we will be 
glad to accept the one you offer." 

Bird did not reply ; her eyelids fell, and she seemed painfully 
embarrassed. The entire scene came back to Violet now with vivid 
distinctness, but she thrust it from her. She would not see in it any- 
thing derogatory to her dear friend. As soon as she was sufficiently 
composed, she walked down the long corridor to Bird's room for her 
usual afternoon call. It was one of the few single rooms, the 
students' sleeping apartments in the college being usually grouped in 
suites of three or four around a study parlor, the girls thus forming 
little coteries or families. But- Bird, on entering the college, had 
asked the privilege of rooming alone, and had been given a bedroom 
intended for a teacher. Here she had lived a solitary life until Violet 
Remington had sought her out and won her friendship. They had 
been very intimate this last year, and Emma Constant, who was 
Violet's room-mate, watched the growing friendship with disfavor. 



20 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

She was too high-minded to be jealous. She told herself that she 
would gladly have shared Violet's love with another if sure that 
this other friend merited Violets esteem. But she distrusted Bird, 
and was positive that the event would prove her suspicions well 

founded. 

Violet was to go abroad the coming summer with her parents, 
and Emma had accepted their invitation to travel with them with 
delight ; but this morning, when Violet had proposed that Bird should 
also join the party, Emma had remonstrated, and the discussion 
already reported had taken place. Emma had said even more, for she 
had reminded Violet that they had made their first plans for this tour 
on a Sunday afternoon after one of Dr. Harper's lectures on the Psalms, 
and that they had both agreed that the most interesting spot for 
them in all foreign lands was Palestine, and that some day they would 
endeavor to make the pilgrimage together. 

Jerusalem should be their headquarters, — a most interesting centre. 
They would pass an entire season here, verifying as nearly as possi- 
ble all sacred localities ; and they would make little excursions from 
Jerusalem, following David's life as a bandit from Engedi to Adullum 
and away to Askelon and Gaza, Samson's country. 

Perhaps they might make a caravan trip as far southward as 
Mount Hor where Aaron was buried. Their interest had been 
aroused in this direction not only by their Biblical studies in college, 
but also by Violet's brother, who was at this time travelling in the 
East with a party engaged in archaeological study and exploration. 

Emma had a fine, clear mind ; she was one of the leaders of the 
circles of tens who met for voluntary Bible study. It was her 
ambition to take a special course in Hebrew and Old Testament 
literature such as is provided at Yale, and to fit herself thoroughly 
for Bible-class teaching of a high order. Violet was by nature an 
artist, and thought of such a tour as a wonderful sketching-field. 
Bird had a talent for literature, and would find a thousand themes 



A PECULIAR GIRL. 



21 



for her graceful pen, — at least so Violet thought. But Emma reminded 
her that Bird had declined to join the circles for Bible study, and was 
sure that she would refuse to join the expedition, or if she went with 
them would prove a most uncongenial companion. 

Violet resented Emma's suggestions. It seemed to her that as 
she was herself the organizer of the trip, that Emma had no right 
to dictate ; but in spite of herself the conversation left a disagreeable 





THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT HOR. 



sensation of which she could not rid herself. Still, she was fully 
determined to prove that Emma was in the wrong, and she entered 
Bird's room determined to invite her to be one of the party. 

Bird looked up in something like alarm, and hastily thrust a letter 
which she had been reading into her pocket. 

" Bird Orchard ! A love-letter which you conceal ! I am 
shocked ! " 

Bird strove to smile, but she had been weeping, and her voice 
trembled as she replied, " It is a love-letter, dear, but it is from 
my mother, — the person I love best in all the world." 



22 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

Violet was on her knees beside her in a moment. " No bad news 
I hope, dear." 

" No, only that she is weary and lonely without me, as I am with- 
out her; and I have decided to go to her soon after I graduate. 
That means giving up my brother, whom I love too, and our life 
which we had planned to lead together here in America, — and you 
Violet, and you ! " Here Bird burst into tears again, and Violet 
folded her in her arms and held her tightly for a moment. 

" Why will not your mother come to America and live with you 
and your brother?" Violet asked after a time. 

"Father and Mother do not like America. They have suffered 
too much here ; they will never come back. My brother on the con- 
trary is delighted with it. He thinks it the only place where a young 
man can achieve a career. He likes its free institutions, and he is 
proud to call himself an American. You know he chose to be 
educated at Harvard in preference to any German university ; and it 
was he who insisted that I should come to Vassar, in order that I 
misht orain the best American education, and imbibe American 
tastes and ideas. And I have adopted them little by little, almost 
unconsciously. I have come to feel myself transplanted and my 
affections taking root in this new soil. You have been the chief 
factor in all this, Violet. It is my love for you which has made me 
love everything identified with you, except perhaps your religion. 
Father foresaw this when he left us. ' Grow up with the country,' he 
said ; ' it is the place for young people. If I were thirty years younger 
I would start as you are doing, but your mother and I are too old.' 
And so they went away and left us. The experiment has proved 
successful in my brother's case. He has made warm friends at 
Harvard. The father of one of them has offered him a position and 
an interest in a prominent banking-house in New York. Edward 
wishes me to live with him. He has urged me to select a pleasant 
apartment, and has written of the pleasure we will take in fitting it 



A PECULIAR GIRL. 



23 



up together, of the musicales we will give, and the friends we shall 
entertain. I had planned to have you with me for my first winter, 
but I have decided that Edward can do without me, that my duty 
is plainly with my mother, and I shall go to her." 

" I think you have decided rightly," Violet said, " and I do not 
see anything very dreadful in it beyond our separation, which need 
not be a final one. The great pond is so easily crossed nowadays 
we can visit back and forth very easily." 

Bird shook her head sadly. " I shall not return while my parents 
live," she said. 

11 Then I shall go to you," Violet announced cheerfully. " Listen 
Bird. We are going abroad next autumn; Father, Mother, Emma, 
and I. We will take you over with us, and we can easily arrange 
for me to visit awhile with you." 

Bird did not reply at once. She looked at Violet with a strange 
troubled expression. 

" Would n't you like to have me come to you ? " Violet asked 
at last. 

" Above all things," Bird replied, " but I fear you would not enjoy 
being with us. Mother is an invalid and — You do not know, and 
I cannot tell you." 

Bird's face sank upon her arm, and Violet spoke earnestly. " My 
poor darling, tell me all about it. It can make no difference in 
my love to you, whatever it is." 

But Bird gathered herself up proudly. " I have nothing to tell," 
she said, " only it will not be convenient for us to have you visit with 
us this summer. Don't be offended with me; it is such a trial for 
me to say it." 

" Oh, never mind ! " Violet answered cheerfully. " We will make 
the voyage together." 

" Perhaps so. It is not always easy to make the plans of so large 
a party agree. What is your itinerary ? " 



24 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

" We will cross directly to Gibraltar and make the circuit of the 
Mediterranean, ending up by spending the winter or a part of it in 
Eo-ypt, where Frank is to meet us, and will take us for a tour in the 
Holy Land." 

Bird's face, which had softened, suddenly grew hard. " That 
decides it," she said. " I can't go with you." 

" Because we are to meet Brother Frank ? I call that very unkind 
when you know how much he admires you." 

" I cannot go with you because I am not in the least interested in 
what you call the Holy Land, and because I ought to go at once to my 
mother." She spoke decidedly and promptly, but there was a faint 
flush on her usually pale cheeks, and Violet's mental comment was, 
" You can't deceive me. It is because you don't want to meet Frank." 
And then, more puzzled than ever, she asked herself, " But why should 
she wish to avoid him when all the girls like him. Now, I verily 
believe that Emma Constant is going simply and solely because he is 
to join us in Egpyt." Instantly she retracted the unkind thought, 
but added with a sigh : " Emma is right ; Bird is a most peculiar 
girl." 




AN EGYPTIAN TEMPLE. 



CHAPTER II. 



EGYPT, CAIRO, AND THE NILE. 




N spite of Bird's intention to sail earlier, she was de- 
layed in New York by her brother until the sailing 
of the Remingtons. He was greatly opposed to her 
going, and placed one obstacle after another in her 
way, the final one being that as he was in a sense 
her guardian he would not consent to her crossing the ocean except 
in suitable company. As her parents returned a written confirma- 
tion of this dictum, Bird was driven to accept the escort of her 
friends for the voyage. 

She expected that her father would meet her at Brindisi ; but when 
the steamer arrived at that port she received a telegram stating that 
he had been called to Russia by important business, and suggesting 
that, if her friends were willing, she might spend the winter with them 
in Egypt, or at least remain with them until he could make other 
arrangements for her. She would find a letter and money awaiting 
her at Alexandria." 

The tears came into Bird's eyes as she read this telegram. " I 
am thrown upon your hands in a most humiliating manner." 

But Violet kissed away her tears, and showed herself so genuinely 
delighted by this turn of affairs, and the entire party, Emma Constant 
included, displayed so much delicacy and consideration of her feelings 
that Bird accepted the situation with philosophy, and even with 
pleasure. 



2 8 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

" Fate has continued our companionship, through no act of mine," 
she said to Violet, " and I am surely not responsible for the result." 

" The result can only be happiness for us all," Violet replied, " and 
I shall hold you responsible for every minute of it." 

It was early winter by the calendar when they reached Alexandria. 
The weather on the Mediterranean had been chill and gray, but a 
balmy wind blew from the Soudan, and the old city flashed with 
sunshine and color. 

A young man stood upon the pier, among the crowd of noisy ges- 
ticulating Orientals, calmly but obstinately holding his place; and he 
sprang upon the steamer almost before the gang-plank was lowered. 
" That is Frank," Violet exclaimed when they could only see his figure 
outlined against the white wall of a warehouse ; " I would know him as 
far as I could see him." 

He had come from Cairo to meet them, and had stood there for 
hours awaiting the arrival of the steamer. Violet threw herself into 
his arms, but he gently disengaged himself and hurried first to his 
mother. Bird thought that he had not seen her, but he turned so 
quickly toward her after his mother had released him, that she knew 
he must have recognized her as he passed. " This is indeed a delight- 
ful surprise," he exclaimed, as he took her hand. " Violet, why did you 
not write that Miss Orchard was with you ? " 

The words were only the commonplaces of politeness, but there was 
an earnestness in his manner which meant more. 

" We brought her quite against her will," Violet replied ; " and her 
coming was as much of a surprise to Bird and to us as it is to you." 

And Bird added truthfully, " Violet is quite right ; I did not intend 
coming, and I really ought not to have done so." 

One day was enough for the sights of Alexandria. Mr. Remington 
was chiefly interested in the traces of Napoleon's campaign, and in the 
great break-water built by English enterprise. The travellers drove 
about the city, visiting the ruins of ancient Alexandria; and they 



EGYPT, CAIRO, AND THE NILE. 



2 9 



agreed that the finest relic was Pompey's Pillar, a column of beautiful 
red granite, ninety-eight feet in height. 

Eliot Warburton has well said : " The ancient city has bequeathed 
nothing but its ruins to modern Alexandria. All that is now visible 
is a piebald town, one half European, with its regular houses, tall and 
white and stiff, the other half Oriental, with mud-colored buildings 
and terraced roofs. The suburbs are encrusted with the wretched 




ALEXANDRIA. 



hovels of the Arab poor and immense mounds and tracts of rubbish 
occupy the wide space between the city and its walls. Yet here luxury 
and literature, the epicurean and the Christian, philosophy and com- 
merce once dwelt together. Here stood the great library of antiquity. 
Here the Hebrew Scriptures expanded into Greek under the hands of 
the Septuagint. Here Cleopatra, vainqueur des vainqueurs du mo?ide, 
revelled with her conquerors. Here St. Mark preached. Here Amer 
conquered, and here Abercrombie fell." 

After spending the night in Alexandria, they set out for Cairo by 
rail. There was something incongruous in the English cars, the 
guards in European clothes ; but as they neared Cairo, and saw its 



30 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

domes and minarets, and, best of all, the Pyramids rising before them, 
they felt that at last they were in Egypt. 

" I am fascinated with Cairo," the young man said, " with its beauti- 
ful mosques, it kaleidoscopic bazars, its museum of Egyptian archae- 
ology, its wonderful environs, and, above all, its life. Sometimes I wish 
that I were an artist, that I might paint the different types, — the 
Bedouins, the Turks, the negroes from the Upper Nile, the Copts, 
the Jews, and the Europeans of every nationality. It is a meeting- 
place of the races, and it makes me think of the description of the day 
of Pentecost ; for here are ' Parthians and Medes and dwellers in Meso- 
potamia, Cretes and Arabians, Jews and proselytes,' and all the rest. 
It is an ever varying panorama of which I am never weary." 

He took them to Shepherd's Hotel, near the beautiful Ezbekiyeh 
Gardens, in which they walked that evening after dinner. 

" One can forgive the Khedive many abuses," said Mr. Remington, 
" since he has created this beautiful spot and thrown it open freely to 
the public." 

Electric lights threw the shadows of the palms in beautiful patterns 
in the broad walks. " What does it make you think of ? " Violet asked 
as they walked upon the magical carpet. 

" ' And they strewed palm branches in the way,' " her brother replied, 
quickly catching her meaning. 

Bird changed the subject at once, remarking on the beauty of the 
lotus flowers in a fountain-basin near by and the feathery papyrus and 
the strange and brilliant flowers. They gave the next day to the bazars, 
— little shops which lined both sides of the Shoobrah and other streets. 
The houses on either side were tall, with projecting upper stories, and 
bay-windows latticed with turned rods brought the two walls of the 
narrow street still nearer together, while the space between was roofed 
over with matting, giving a grateful shade and coolness for the pedes- 
trian. The Turkish merchants sat cross-legged on their counters 
among their wares, of which they seemed a part. They generally 



EGYPT, CAIRO, AND THE NILE. 



31 




TURKISH MERCHANT. 



wore white turbans, vests of striped silk, and an outer robe of a soft, 
faded tone which would have delighted an artist, — citron, crushed straw- 
berry, olive, dull blue, chocolate, maroon, peach, or old gold. One ven- 
erable carpet merchant with a long gray beard formed a picture worthy 



3 2 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



of Fortuny, with his background of beautiful rugs. There were velvety 
Persian carpets in the wonderfully harmonious colors which only 
the Persian knows how to mingle ; old Samarcand rugs and Damas- 
cus saddle-bags ; shaggy gay-patterned blankets of fine goat's-hair 
from Turcoman tents; Kis Kelim portieres and red Bokhara rugs 
of geometrical design, or scrawled over with barbaric figures remotely 
resembling uncouth birds and beasts; hangings from Bagdad, with 
quotations from the Koran embroidered in the decorative Arabic 
characters ; silky Daghestan divan rugs, which caught the light with 
an iridescent sheen ; and Tunisian prayer rugs, in pattern a Moorish 
arch, whose point the owner always turns toward Mecca at the hour 
of prayer. 

There was the soap and cosmetic bazar, situated near the Bath, 
where the air was heavy with orange flower and lotus, ottar of rose 
in gilded flasks from Constantinople, jasmine of Aleppo, sandal-wood, 
and musk, and where thin curling scrolls of incense rose from deli- 
cately wrought brass censers, diffusing frankincense, aloes, cassia, and 
all the perfumes of Araby. More pungent were the odors which 
assailed one from the tobacco and snuff bazar, where a great cliff of 
Latakia tobacco was flanked by graceful nargiles, whose bubbling 
rose-water and coiled serpentine tubes with amber mouth-pieces in 
vited the smoker. The brass and copper bazar, with its display of 
trays of every size, engraved, hammered, damascened, wrought in vari- 
ous fashions, in repoussee and filagree, etched and inlaid, shining like 
the emblazoned shields of knights at the armorers' tent in some tour- 
ney of Saladin, formed a warlike background to the social, slender 
coffee-pots, the incense burners, and household implements. A rea 
armorer's booth was near at hand with a great array of yataghans 
and scimitars, ancient and modern, with arabesque designs and blood 
thirsty mottoes damascened upon their blades, bits of mail that may 
have been handed down from the Crusaders, or may have been 
cleverly imitated in Birmingham and sent out to Egypt to deceive 



EGYPT, CAIRO, AND THE NILE. 33 

Cockney collectors, together with the long Moorish firearms and all 
the picturesque arsenal of a Bedouin marauder. 

The girls found it interesting to stand in a niche and watch the 
great polyglot river of humanity that surged by, and to note the 
bazars that most attracted them. Here would pass an Egyptian lady 
on a donkey led by a servant. She is closely veiled, but displays one 
bare braceleted arm. She sits astride; and though she may wear 
jewelled slippers, her feet are stockingless. The girls watch her as she 
pauses at the bazar of silks, and the merchant unfolds lieht floating 
gauzes shot with silver and gold or sprigged with pink flowers, sump- 
tuous embroideries of richest colors or heavy with gold, rose-colored 
silks, and filmiest linens and tissues. 

An Egyptian gentleman drives by in an English open carriage, pre- 
ceded by a sais or running footman. He pauses before the niche 
devoted to old manuscripts. There are some mounted Janissaries 
clattering down from the Citadel ; they will stop no doubt at the old ar- 
morer's. No; they make straight for the bazar of sweetmeats, — a most 
mouth-watering corner, — where they select from the various candied 
fruits some " lumps of delight " as the Smyrna fig-paste is called, and 
the fierce soldiers ride away munching it with the satisfaction of school- 
girls. Here come some wild-looking dervishes, with matted hair and 
idiotic faces. They are religious fanatics ; perhaps they will join the 
Egyptian gentleman who is bargaining for a beautiful copy of the 
Koran. Not they; the horde stops at the fruit bazar, where they stuff 
themselves with melon, burying their ugly faces in the luscious cres- 
cents with swinish rapacity, for it is not Ramazan, the morn of fasting, 
and let us feast while we may. Here are some Bedouins from the 
desert in robes and turbans. One is a sheik, as rich and venerable as 
Job after the Lord rewarded him for all his trials. What can he want 
in the great metropolis ? Violet guesses a pipe. He would look so 
patriarchal, calmly smoking one of those nargiles. But the sheik 
finds his way at once to the slipper bazar, and purchases, not a capa- 

1 



34 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 






cious pair of yellow morocco slippers for his own feet, but two tiny 
pointed things of violet velvet, embroidered with real seed-pearls, 
for which he pays the round sum of twenty-five dollars. Truly, the 
act speaks a whole volume of romance concerning some Fatima or 
Zuleika awaiting his return. An English family pass next, led by a 
Syrian dragoman in baggy trousers and braided jacket. He leads 
them to the Khan Khaleel, a quarter of the goldsmiths' ; and here the 
merchants patiently open their treasure caskets, and the chattering 
girls try on bangles and necklaces of sequins and barbaric tusks and 
cat's-eyes, as the uncanny Egyptian stones of translucent Egyptian 
quartz are called, whose peculiar opalescence is caused by filaments 
of asbestos, with which they are shot. Violet is fascinated by the 
goldsmith's bazar, and would waste her substance in riotous anklets; 
but Frank restrains her, and begs her to defer purchasing until she 
has seen the jewels of the ancient Egyptian princesses preserved at 
the Boulak Museum. " Then," he says, with a great air of superiority, 
" you will not care for any of these cheap trinkets." ' But Violet is 
doubtful, and Mrs. Remington cannot be dissuaded from purchasing a 
nest of the pretty octagonal tables inlaid with mother-of-pearl which 
are to be found at the bazar of furniture. And Violet urges, " They 
will be so jolly for afternoon teas." 

Frank disapproves of these purchases, and hurries them from the 
too fascinating bazars to the great museum. 

As they enter, it seems as if the curtain of the centuries had been 
pushed aside and they were present at some reception given at 
Thebes by Rameses the Great and his loved wife Nefer tari, for 
here just within the Great Vestibule are gathered portrait statues 
of royal personages of many different dynasties. These statues are 
painted and dressed, wear jewels, and some of them are startlingly life- 
like. The two which struck the girls as most remarkable were the 
statues of the Prince Ra-hotep and his sister the Princess Nefert. 
Miss Amelia B. Edwards says of them : " Of all known Egyptian, 






EGYPT, CAIRO, AND THE NILE. 35 

statues these are the most wonderful. They are probably the oldest 
portrait statues in the world, — that is to say, these people who sit 
before us side by side, colored to the life, fresh and glowing as the 
day when they gave the artist his last sitting, lived at a time when 
the great pyramids of Gizeh were not yet built, and at a date which is 
variously calculated as from sixty-three hundred to four thousand years 
before the present day. The princess wears her hair precisely as it is 
still worn in Nubia, and her necklace of Cabochen drops is of a pattern 
much favored by the modern Ghawazi. The eyeballs, which are set in 
an eyelid of bronze, are made of opaque white quartz with an iris of 
rock-crystal enclosing a pupil of some kind of brilliant metal. This 
treatment gives to the eyes a look of intelligence that is almost 
appalling. There is a play of light within the orb, and apparently a 
living moisture upon the surface, which has never been approached 
by the most skilfully made glass eyes of modern manufacture." 

They found the collection of jewels of which Frank had spoken 
a most curious and interesting one. Queen Aah-hotep has left a 
most complete set of necklaces, rings, and other ornaments, while 
all the little articles of feminine luxury, toilet accessories, lamps, 
perfume-bottles, and mirrors interested the girls intensely. Frank 
hurried them by these however, to show them one particular mummy, 
— that of Rameses II., the Pharaoh of the Oppression. 

" I do not think I am very clear in my understanding of Egyptian 
history," Violet said as they strolled through the halls of the Museum. 
" I wish, Frank, you would tell me just which king was the Pharaoh 
we read of in connection with Moses." 

" There were two kings who successively ruled Egypt during 
the life of Moses," Frank replied. " We read in Exodus II. 23 of 
the one whose daughter adopted Moses, and who oppressed the 
children of Israel, that ' the King of Egypt died,' and in the next 
chapter another Pharaoh is spoken of, — the one under whose reign 
the great plagues were visited upon Egypt, and from whom the chil- 



o6 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

dren of Israel finally escaped. The first is generally spoken of as the 
Pharaoh of the Oppression, and is undoubtedly the great conqueror 
and builder Rameses II., the Sesostris of classical writers. The sec- 
ond was his ignoble son Menephtha the Pharaoh of the Exodus." 

" Please explain to us in what the greatness of ' Rameses con- 
sisted." It was Bird who spoke, and Frank, always quick to respond 
to her requests, replied at some length. 

" Rameses came to the throne when only a boy of seven, about 
1322 B.C. He began his career as victorious general in the fifth 
year of his reign, when he defeated the Khita, and many of their 
princes and nobles were drowned in the River Orontes. This war 
lasted until his ninth year when he took Salem, the ancient site of 
Jerusalem, and other Syrian cities; and in his twenty-first year a 
treaty of peace was made between the two nations, and Rameses 
married a Khitan princess. A tablet commemorating his victories 
has been found as far north as the Passes of the Lycus near Beyrout. 
After this he led his army southward and subdued Ethiopia, establish- 
ing Egyptian viceroys. He then established a navy which per- 
formed exploits upon the Mediterranean. Having tired of conquest, 
he directed his attention to architecture, and built many of the most 
remarkable monuments which exist to this day at Thebes, Abydos, 
Tanis. At Gerf Hossayn, Wady Sabooah, Derr, and Aboo Simbel 
he founded and embellished magnificent temples. He built entire 
cities, constructed canals and artesian wells, equipped a navy,' em- 
ployed thousands of architects, sculptors, and painters, and an incal- 
culable number of slaves and captives as builders. It was his delight 
to leave his own colossal portrait statues in his favorite temples, and 
to cover their walls with the histories of his exploits ; so that, as 
Henry Brugsch Bey writes in his fascinating History of Egypt, 
' the number of his monuments is so great and almost countless, 
that the historian finds himself in difficulty where to begin.' The 
Ramesseum or, as it is sometimes called, the Memnonium at 



EGYPT, CAIRO, AND THE NILE. 37 

Thebes is possibly the most magnificent of these remains. It is a 
succession of pillared courts. A colossal statue of the king lies in 
the first, and it has been calculated that the stupendous figure, when 
entire, must have weighed over a thousand tons." 

" Was the Ramesseum the tomb of the great king ? " Bird 
asked. 

" Rameses seems to have intended that it should be, and for a 
long time savants believed that among its underground chambers 
the mausoleum would be found ; but these researches were in vain, and 
the mummy was finally discovered, in 1881, carefully concealed in a 
subterranean tomb in the heart of the mountain Biban El Mulouk 
not far from Thebes." 

" How did they ever find the hiding-place ? " Violet asked. 

" The story of the discovery has been told by Mr. Wilson in the 
Century Magazine. These are the main points, as I remember them. 
Four Arab guides lived in some tombs beyond Luxor, and these men 
had been in the habit of selling to travellers antiquities consisting of 
funeral offerings and even scarabees bearing the cartouch or seal 
of Rameses, which was immediately recognized by Professor Maspero, 
the director-general of the Boulak Museum. Detectives were put 
on the track of the Arabs. They were imprisoned, and I fear tor- 
tured, and at last one of them confessed that they had discovered a 
tomb away in the desert hills. Herr Emil Brugsch Bey, curator of 
the Museum, immediately accompanied the man to the spot. A well 
or shaft was pointed out, which had been filled in with loose stones 
piled as carelessly as possible. The curator at once set a gang of 
Arabs at work to clear out the well, and this done, fearlessly had 
himself lowered to the bottom. It was an intrepid act ; for although 
he was armed to the teeth, he had only one man among that company 
of natives whom he could trust, — his faithful assistant, whom he had 
brought from Cairo. The Arabs knew that he was about to deprive 
them of their source of revenue, and could easily have tumbled him 







8 THREE VASSAL GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



into the well, with his assistant, and piled in the stones again upon 
their mangled bodies. But they did nothing of the kind, and Herr 
Brugsch found himself safely at the bottom of the well fronting a 
long subterranean passage, which led far into the heart of the moun- 
tain. A torch was lowered to him, and he soon found that the 
passage was lined with metal, alabaster, and porcelain vases, draperies 
and ornaments, and presently mummy-cases. Plunging on he at 
length reached the tomb itself, — a chamber thirteen feet by twenty- 
three, and six feet in height. Here were thirty-nine mummy-cases, 
some of them of great size, painted and gilded; and the curator knew 
that he was in the burial chamber of a dynasty of kings and queens. 
He hurried back to the open air, almost overcome with excitement 
at the glorious prize. I have copied into my note-book his relation 
of the circumstances. He says, ' It was almost sunset then. Already 
the odor which arose from the tomb had cajoled a troop of slinking 
jackals to the neighborhood, and the howl of the hyenas was heard 
not far distant. A long line of vultures sat upon the highest pinnacles 
of the cliffs near by, ready for their hateful work.' 

" There was but little sleep in Luxor that night. Early the next 
morning three hundred Arabs were employed. The coffins were 
hoisted to the surface, were securely sewed up in sail-cloth and 
matting, and then were carried across the plain of Thebes to the 
steamers awaiting them at Luxor. A careful examination proved 
that the mummies found were those of the most illustrious monarchs 
of the most glorious period of Egyptian history. Queen Hatasu, 
King Thothmes, and King Rameses II. himself were among those 
indentified with absolute certainty. Look at the face of Rameses and 
compare it with these photographs of his statues at Aboo Simbel, at 
Memphis, at Thebes, and the likeness is sufficiently apparent, — 'the 
same high bearing of unconquerable resolve and overweening pride, 
even in the shrivelled features of death. Now notice for a moment 
the coffin. Its shape displays the flowing lines of the Egyptian 



EGYPT, CAIRO, AND THE NILE. 39 

Renaissance. It is carved to represent the king himself; his crossed 
arms rest upon his breast, the right hand holds the whip with which 
he chastised his enemies, his left the sceptre with which he governed 
his people. The body itself was wrapped in rose-colored and yellow 
linen finer than the filmiest gauze, with lotus flowers scattered between 
its folds. And here are the cartouches of Rameses painted upon the 
mummy-case." 

The girls passed on, examining and commenting upon the other 
■mummies. Emma, who was fond of quotations, repeated the follow- 
ing lines to a mummy as they left the room : — 

"And thou hast walked about, how strange the story ! 

In Thebes's streets three thousand years ago, 
When the Memnonium was in all its glory, 

And time had not begun to overthrow 
Those temples, palaces, and piles stupendous, 

Of which the very ruins are tremendous. 

" Perchance that very hand, now pinioned flat, 

Hath hob-a-nobbed with Pharaoh, glass to glass, 

Or dropped a half-penny in Homer's hat, 
Or doffed thine own to let Queen Dido pass, 

Or held, by Solomon's own invitation, 
A torch at the great temple's dedication." 

This visit to the Museum had the very effect which Frank had 
hoped for. Modern Cairo lost a little of its glamour. The bazars 
were no longer so fascinating as they had been. History laid its 
hand upon them with a potent spell, and they were all eager for the 
trip up the Nile, with its loitering beside ancient cities, magnificent 
temples, and lonely tombs. 

It was at Boulak that they selected their dahabeeyah or Nile boat, 
for it is here that they are moored for the trip up the Nile. There 
are sometimes over two hundred of these house-boats to be seen wait- 
ing here to be engaged by travellers for this interesting journey. The 
girls looked at several of the boats, and found one that seemed very 
pleasant and home-like. The captain, Ali Hassan, knew no English ; 



40 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

but the steward, a young Sicilian, Giulio Santoro, by name, spoke a. 
little of half a dozen languages, and as he sententiously remarked, "Ze 
boat need not to praise ; he spik for herself." The boat had been 
named " The Lotus," by some former English occupants, and they 
had left little traces of their presence in the way of muslin curtains, 
tastefully looped with old rose ribbons. There were hanging book- 
shelves too, still containing a few volumes of Tauchnitz, Eber's 
" Narda," — best of all, — which Violet after reading determined to in- 
terlay with photographs of the scenes mentioned ; and there were 
steamer-chairs with tempting cushions on the upper deck, and flower- 
pots of blossoming plants, and a hammock with a canopy of mosquito- 
netting such as Brazilian travellers use when voyaging up the Amazon. 
All this decided them, and the boat was speedily engaged ; and one day 
when the wind blew southward the great lateen sail was spread and 
they drifted up the mysterious river. For sixty days they sailed in 
company, but as this is only a record of their journeyings in Bible 
lands we can give no record here of their delightful voyage. We 
cannot describe their excursions on donkey-back to visit tombs in 
the interior, and a memorable one to the two Colossi of Thebes, the 
vocal Memnon who saluted the dawn with a strange hollow note of 
greeting, — a device of the priests or the action of the sun's rays. 

They loitered long at Karnak and Luxor. They picnicked in 
wonderful columned halls; they fiHed the cabin with the pretty As- 
siont ware, and bought scarabs and other antiquities, many of them 
doubtless forgeries, from pretty Arab children. They copied inscrip- 
tions, and Emma even studied hieroglyphics. Violet sketched, and Bird 
sat and let all the wonderful panorama pass by her, intent on each 
object, each detail ; and though she was apparently inert as compared 
with the other girls, she was storing up impressions which were to bear 
fruit in the future. 

Philae, they all agreed, was the most beautiful spot on the Nile. 
It was hard to tear themselves away from it. At the Second 




KARNAK, HYPOSTYLE HALL. 



EGYPT, CAIRO, AND THE NILE. 43 

Cataract, a little above Aboo Simbel, they turned and floated down 
the river, more mysterious than ever, it seemed to them, from the 
tantalizing glimpses which they had had. 

" I must make the voyage again," Bird said, " after I have pre- 
pared myself to profit by it by severe study." 

" I appreciate your feeling," said Emma, " and every one that I 
have known who has been abroad has told me that if they could 
only have known beforehand on just what points to inform them- 
selves, their tours would have been of far greater value to them." 

They had nearly completed their return voyage. The great pyra- 
mids, in the vicinity of Cairo, were in sight before they quite realized 
that it was nearly over. 

Violet lamented sincerely. " I wish it might last forever," she said, 
" and we go on and on without any dreadful break in our enjoyment." 

" But we are going on and on," Frank said, " with the only 
difference that our journeying will now be by caravan, if we make 
the Sinai excursion ; I fail to see anything very dolorous in the 
change." 

" You forget," Emma said, " that Bird leaves us at Cairo." 

" Is this true ? " the young man asked anxiously. 

" Yes," Bird replied ; " I expect my father to meet me at Cairo and 
to take me off your hands. I have been left until called for, like a 
package, for a long time." 

" I am glad that we are to meet your father," said Mrs. Reming- 
ton. " Perhaps he will consent to make the Palestine tour with us." 

There was a strange look in Bird's face, and a quick hot flush 
which Mrs. Remington noticed but could not understand. " Yes, I 
am glad we are to see her father," the troubled mother said to her- 
self ; " Frank seems much interested in the girl. It is time for us to 
inquire into her antecedents." 

But at Cairo there was only a letter from Bird's father, stating 
that he was on his way, and would meet her at Port Said in a fort- 



44 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



ni^ht. No one was really disappointed. It was pleasant to be 
together a little longer, and they had by no means exhausted Cairo 
before going up the Nile. 

One perfect day in March, Frank proposed that they should 
make an excursion to Heliopolis. As Bird was an excellent horse- 
woman, he provided a saddle horse for her and one for himself, while 
the rest of the party were driven in an open carriage. They set 
out on the Abbaseyeh road, by way of Kubbeh, Matariyeh, and the 
Virgin s Tree. The air was delicious, and after a frolicsome canter 
they walked their horses quietly side by side, talking on the many 
subjects which the view along their way suggested. 

" Why do we make this visit to Heliopolis ? " Bird asked. " Is 
there anything of special interest in the place ? " 

"Not a great deal now," Frank admitted; "but once, under its 
Egyptian name of On, it was a great and luxurious city, and the seat 
of one of the most celebrated universities of the world. You re- 
member that Joseph married a daughter of a priest of On, and 
Moses was doubtless educated here. I confess that all Egypt as 
well as Heliopolis interests me most when it touches Bible history. 
It is wonderful and delightful to see how modern discoveries in this 
old land verify the sacred record. I made a most interesting caravan 
trip across the peninsula of Sinai, following the different tracks 
which have been held by scholars as the course taken by the children 
of Israel in their Exodus, and I have persuaded Father, so that now 
he is in favor of our all making the trip together. It is an expen- 
sive one, but not dangerous or uncomfortable; and I assure you 
that camping in the desert is a very pleasant expedience, especially 
when one has so good a dragoman as my Mohammed." 

" You must tell me about the excursion some time," Bird replied, 
" but I do not think I would care to make it. I am not interested 
in discovering the ashes of the different camp-fires which the 
Hebrews built in their very tiresome journey. I cannot see, either, 



EGYPT, CAIRO, AND THE NILE. 47 

why you are so fond of these ancient Jews, since you despise modern 
ones. Is it simply because their history is preserved in the Bible ? " 

" I think not," Frank replied thoughtfully. I admire the great 
personality of Moses. I think he was one of the grandest men that 
ever lived, — just the one to confront the great Rameses. And 
the story of Joseph touches me, too. It is an exquisite romance 
and poem. People read and study the Bible in such a stupid way, 
until they become blind to all its beauties. I wish some novelist 
would write the stories of Joseph and of Moses, developing the 
human interest which lies hidden in the ancient sacred story, and 
make us believe that they were living, breathing men, talented, 
ambitious, passionate, but consumed, each of them, by overmastering 
aims of such nobility as to make their lives sublime. If we could 
only realize that they actually lived, right here, and were as intensely 
human as Cleopatra, for instance, it would be a great gain." 

" It would be a fascinating thing to do," Bird replied. " Your 
enthusiasm is contagious. I have half a mind to try my hand at 
such a romance." 

" Do," Frank besought. " I believe you would succeed." 

But Bird shook her head provokingly. " I don't care for those old 
Hebrews," she said, "just as you do not care for modern ones." 

" But I don't see why you take that for granted," Frank replied ; 
" I think the Jews of all ages a most interesting people. I have 
several learned friends who are Jews." 

" Indeed ? " Bird asked quickly. 

" Yes ; they live in Jerusalem, and have been very kind to me. I 
mean to have my parents meet them if I can get them to overcome 
their prejudices." 

They had been riding along a beautiful avenue shaded with 
sycamore-trees, and bordered with lemon hedges. Luxuriant gardens 
and pleasant country-houses were scattered on either hand. Feathery 
palms gently waved their plume-like branches. The shining foliage of 



48 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

orange and lemon trees was interspersed with the large ornamental 
leaves of the castor-oil plant, notched as though for decorative design, 
and the fine gray foliage of the olive. 

"What villa is that?" asked Mr. Remington from the carriage. 

" It is the palace of the Koobah," Frank replied, " built by Ismail 
Pasha for his son the Khedive. And this beautiful plain has been 
enriched by two great battles, — one in 15 17, when Sultan Selim made 
Egypt a Turkish province; and later, in 1800, when the French 
defeated the Turks." 

They stopped to see the Virgin's Tree, — an ancient sycamore, which 
orows near the village of Matariyeh, in whose shade the Holy Family 
are supposed to have rested during the Flight into Egypt. A fence 
had been built about it by its owner, to protect it from the ravages 
of relic-hunters, and beside the fence sat a young Coptic woman 
holding a beautiful babe upon her shoulder. 

" She seems to be posing for us," Bird said. " I wonder if she 
fancies that she will gain our sympathies by enacting this pretty 
tableau." 

" It is possible," Frank replied, " but all the same she is a mother 
and poor, and we will not refuse her." 

The woman smiled back her thanks, and ran after them with 
branches from the sacred tree. Bird drew rein and took them from 
her ; but it was evidently only to please the poor woman, for as soon 
as they were out of her sight she threw them away. 

They drank of the Virgin's Fountain, which is said to have been 
brackish until, " Our Lady having bathed in it, the waters acquired 
their softness and excellence ; " but they looked in vain for any plants 
of the Balm of Gilead which Cleopatra caused to be transplanted here 
from Jericho. 

Only one obelisk remains at Heliopolis of the many that once 
adorned the university city. The girls had studied the one in Central 
Park, New York, and had been much interested in the articles written 



EGYPT, CAIRO, AND THE NILE. 49 

about it at the time that it was brought across the ocean. They wan- 
dered about the town, which is surrounded by ancient brick walls, 
which it is thought were formerly those of the university, bounding 
ihe great court in front of the Temple of the Sun, while the old city 
extended far beyond the limits of the present one. 

One feature of their ride was the first near view which they had 
obtained of the desert, as their road skirted it for a portion of the way, 
and they could look away across the tawny rolling waste for miles. 

" Does it not appeal to you ? Does it not call you ? " Frank asked. 
" I feel as if I had a drop of Bedouin blood in my veins ; and the 
caravans of the desert exert the same magnetism upon me that the sea 
and shipping does upon young boys." 

They returned in the late afternoon by way of the Citadel, pausing 
there to obtain the beautiful view of Cairo by sunset. They stood to- 
gether on the parapet of the south-west end of the Mosque of Mohammed 
Ali. The city lay beneath them ; all its evil sights and smells, its 
squalor and noise, had vanished in the distance. What they saw was a 
transfigured Cairo, pure and beautiful, bathed in rosy light, its minarets 
touched with gold, and its domes burning in the sunset fire. Far 
away in the distance the Mediterranean blended with the sky, and the 
old, old pyramids of Memphis seemed the rose-colored silken tents of 
some travelling caliph. The Nile crept down from the Soudan, a 
silver thread ; and in the east the Red Sea verified its name, for its 
waters seemed turned to blood. 

"Over there is Sinai," said Frank. "Will you not write and ask 
your father to allow you to make the pilgrimage with us ? We had 
such a happy time together on the Nile. Though perhaps it is 
presumption for me to fancy that you enjoyed it as I did. It is 
cruel of you to go away just as we are becoming such good friends. 
Say that you will not desert us. I am certain that you will never 
regret it." 

PBird did not seem to understand him, for her eyes were fixed on 
A 



5o THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY L. 

the desert horizon ; and when she spoke, her reply seemed to bear 
no relation to his question." 

"And those friends of yours in Jerusalem, what were their names?" 

" Baumgarten ; and they were a most interesting family. The old 
grandfather looked like a rabbi in his black skull-cap and white beard, 
with his deep-set black eyes. He was a very noble and learned man. 
He read to me from the Talmud, and I deeply admired and respected 
him; but I loved most his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Shear Baumgarten, 
the dear house-mother. I was ill in Jerusalem. I had a fever, and 
she took me in and nursed me. I think she saved my life. Her 
husband was away in Europe, acting as an agent for a Jerusalem 
Hebrew Colonization Society, and I did not meet him; but I feel sure 
that I would like him too. I loved dear Mrs. Baumgarten ; she was 
so motherly and kind I used to pity her because she had no children 
of her own. She had two once, she told me, but lost them." 

Bird's hand trembled as she shaded her face. "But she was 
happy, this friend of yours, was she not ? " she asked. 

" She did not seem unhappy, and yet she would sit often with a far- 
away longing in her face, which made me sure that she was thinking 
of her lost children. I never knew a woman of such intense mother- 
liness. She treated me as though I were her son." 

"And I 'have no doubt that you were a great comfort to her. I 
thank you for it." 

" I don't see why you should thank me, since she is a stranger to 
you ; and we have quite wandered from the matter in hand. Will you 
go with us to Sinai ? I ought to have been seeking for arguments 
to convince you that this is the proper thing for you to do under 
the circumstances, instead of gossiping about the Baumgartens." 

" I am convinced," Bird replied. " I will telegraph my father, 
asking his permission to make the pilgrimage." 

There was a glad triumphant look in her eyes as she added to 
her own heart : " I need no stronger argument ; he loves my mother, 
and he is not ashamed to say so." 




A JEW OF PALESTINE. 



CHAPTER III. 



THE MYSTERY DISCLOSED. 




JilS was Bird's secret: she was a Jewess. How 
11 much of pride and indignity was comprised in the 
M word ! All of the glory and the wrongs of her race, 
all its nobility and its humiliation. 

Her grandfather, Bariah Baumgarten, was a learned 
man, who looked earnestly for the hope of Israel. Bird 
could remember his venerable appearance and his earn- 
est prayers, which ended invariably with the words 
" Next year in Jerusalem," signifying his hope in the 
immediate restoration of the Jews to their ancient country. 

There was a long blessing which he repeated before his meals, in 
which he besought, " Build Jerusalem, the holy city, speedily in our 
days, and lead us quickly thereto, and cause us to rejoice in its 
rebuilding, and to be satisfied with its goodness." 

He had named his son after the son of the prophet Isaiah — Shear- 
jashub — " the remnant shall return ; " while his own name signified " a 
fugitive," and had belonged once to a descendant of David who was a 
captive in Babylon. A captive and fugitive he always regarded himself. 
He was aged when his son removed to America, and the change nearly 
broke his heart. " We should be journeying to the East," he would 
say, " and not turning our backs upon the sacred city." 

But he was too old to go alone where he would, and his son 
brought him to New York, where he was never happy. " I want to 



54 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



be buried in the Valley of Jehoshaphat," he said; " I shall never sleep 
peacefully unless my head is pillowed on Jerusalem earth." 

" We will have some sent for, Father," his daughter-in-law would 
say cheeringly ; " enough to fill a coffin pillow, and you shall have 

your heart's desire." 

But this was not 
what he wished, and 
he fretted the entire 
family with his own 
unrest. 

His son, Bird's fa- 
ther, was a very differ- 
ent type of Hebrew. 
Sordid, worldly, mate- 
rialistic, his soul had 
shrivelled until his 
aims and desires were 
concentrated upon 
money -getting. He 
had lost all the hope and aspiration which ennobled his father's char- 
acter, and he had become one of those objectionable Jews, acquain- 
tance with whom tends to strengthen all our prejudices against the 
race. It was true, however, that unjust conditions had helped to 
make him what he was, and that in a different environment Shear 
Baumgarten would have developed into a more lovable character. 
He smarted under the sense of intolerable injuries ; and he hated the 
so-called Christians, who displayed so little of the spirit of Christ. He 
had fought his way, and had made himself rich ; but as he reached 
the afternoon of life, he became weary with the struggle. 

" If he live a tousand year, a Jew, he neffer haf one chance," he 
said, in the broken English which forty years in England could not 
correct ; " better you butt your head to a stone wall as make some com- 




VALLEY OF JEHOSHAPHAT. — TOMBS OF ZECHARIAH 
AND JEHOSHAPHAT. 



THE MYSTERY DISCLOSED. 55 

petion wiz a Christian. I am so tired of zis fighting, fighting. If I 
could find some country for my children where their race would make 
to them no difference, I would pay any money. But in every nation 
it is ze same. I hear ze fine ladies on ze hotel piazza at Long 
Branch say of my wife, ' She is such a nice lady. What a pity she is 
a Jewess ! ' Now, why do they say zat ? Is it a sin ? Is it a disease ? 
They say of my boy at school, ' Yes, bright leetle fellow — head of his 
class, good morals ; but you better not let your son associate too 
much wiz him. You know zese early friendships you cannot so easy 
shake off by and by — and he is a Jew. And my leetle girl at ze 
dancing-school, — ze prettiest child zere, ze most stylish, dressed 
in a pink silk zat becomes to her very much, wiz chewels, — real 
diamonds eardrops zat cost tousand dollars. All ze leetle poys 
make their bow very polite ; at first her card is full of partners ; she 
haf three bouquets ; enough candy to make her sick. By and by 
ze mothers come to see zoze dance. They ask, ' Who is zat beau- 
teeful leetle girl ? ' 

" ' Baumgarten ? What Baumgarten is zoze ? ' 

" ' Baumgarten and Levy. Wholesale and Retail Dealers in Ready 
Made Men's Clothes. Big business, first-rate, honorable men ; very 
rich.' 

" ' But Jews ? ' 

" ' Oh, yes, — Jew.' 

"After zat my leetle girl sit alone on ze bench, — what you call 
a wall-flower. No flowers, no beaux, no candy. Ze ugly leetle girls 
zey laugh and whisper. Ze bad leetle poys, zey sing when zey go 
home some impudent song about — 

" ' Old Solomon Levi, 
Old Sheeny Levi.' 

My leetle girl she cry, and will no more go to dancing-school. And 
me myself, when 1 go to a hotel ze clerk hand me a brospectus, — 
' No Jews.' I am blackball at ze Club. No Jews. I tries to contam- 



56 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



inate myself wiz Tammany. Oh, yes ! I can vote zoze ticket, 
can pay zat bills, but I cannot be nominated for ze Assembly. I ask 
ze reason of my friend. He hand me one leetle pocket looking-glass 
and say, ' My friend, you see ze reason zare. Zat was no Irish nose.' 
I tell you I haf no chance." 

Shear Baumgarten's son, Bird's brother, was of a still different 
type. He spoke English perfectly, and though his features were of a 
decided Hebrew cast and he inherited much of the Hebrew character, 
he shared in none of its religious or race sympathies. Further removed 
from his grandfather's ideas than even his father, he had the baseness 
to be ashamed of his ancestry ; and when his schoolmates taunted him 
with it he felt only mortification, with no rousing smart of indignation. 
" If I could only get away from our past," he said to himself day by day. 
" I am as bright as other boys, and would have as good an opportunity 
to succeed as they, but I can never do it with this brand upon me." 

Shortly after their removal to America the father and son had a 
serious conference on the subject. 

" You are right, Elipheleh," said the father. " As a Jew you can 
neffer attain some social consideration among Gentiles, efen in Amer- 
ica. If you feel as you do, zare is but one course for you to pursue. 
We can zoze Legislature petition, and change your name to some good 
Yankee name, and so you can begin one new life in zis new country 
wiz so good a chance as anybody." 

Elipheleh could not conceal his delight. " And no one need ever 
know that we are Jews!" he exclaimed. 

" No one need know you to be a Jew. For your mother and me, 
it is different. We haf live our life already ; it is too late zat we 
chano-e." 

Elipheleh's face clouded. " But I am known as your son, and if 
we remain together the plan is not practicable." 

" I haf thought justly of zat," replied the elder man. " You are as 
yet but a poy ; no one knows you already but your poy friends ; and if 






THE MYSTERY DISCLOSED. 57 

you leave them now, in four, five years you will all haf changed so as 
it is impossible to know each ozer. Listen : zis is ze plan I make 
to ourselves. Your mother and I will go back to Europe. I haf 
one scheme which will make me some business zere. We shall 
make all our friends to understand zat you go wiz us ; but not so. 
Instead of zat I will put you under your new name at some boarding- 
school. You are now eighteen, but smart at business for your age. 
I will put some money in ze bank to your credit. After one year 
at boarding-school, you can enter yourself at Harvard, and make for 
yourself an American education. When you shall decide what 
business or profession you will make, zen I will make a new provision 
to you. I will not stand in your way. You shall haf just so good 
a chance as zough your father he were not a Jew." 

If Shear Baumgarten had thought that his son would be deterred 
from pursuing this plan by any sense of filial love and gratitude, 
he was mistaken. The young man was thoroughly selfish, and he 
grasped the opportunity with avidity. 

When the scheme was announced in family conclave, Mrs. Baum- 
garten's motherly heart at first revolted ; but when its advantages 
were impressed upon her, she disguised the pain which it gave, and 
entered upon on all the arrangements with a smiling face. She even 
went further, and with rare self-abnegation said : " A plan which is 
so good for Elipheleh must be equally desirable for Zipporah. Our 
daughter should haf just so good opportunities as our son." 

Elipheleh, who loved his sister as far as his selfish soul was capa- 
ble of the feeling, begged her to share his new life with him. 

" Go to some American school while I am in college," he pleaded ; 
" and then when we graduate we will live together and be so happy. 
You will be my housekeeper and companion, and we will each attract 
to our home the friends we have made at college and school ; we will 
carry on our music together, and live for each other." 

He did not think for an instant that the mother's claim upon her 



58 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

daughter was stronger than his own. But Zipporah thought of it, 
and said, — 

" I will do whatever mother wishes ; " and the mother self-sacrific- 
ingly chose the life which she thought best for her child. 

The Baumgartens petitioned for a change of family name for 
their children which should be equivalent to a translation, as Baum- 
garten is the German equivalent for orchard. Zipporah, too, signi- 
fies a bird, and influenced the choice of a Christian name for the 
daughter. Elipheleh decided on the English name Edward. His 
mother lamented the loss of the old name, which was once borne by 
David's harper, and signified " whom God makes distinguished." 
" I wish we could find an English name with ze same meaning," 
she said. " I fear you may lose ze blessing in losing ze name." 

" Never mind, Mother," the young man replied confidently ; " you 
will see that I shall make myself distinguished." 

He was very enthusiastic. It was as if a terrible • incubus had 
been lifted from him, and he felt now that there was hope that any 
efforts he might make would be crowned with success. 

The elder Baumgartens hastened their departure. The hearts 
of mother and daughter nearly failed them at the last; and it was 
only after Mrs. Baumgarten's promise that she would surely send for 
Bird if she needed her, and when Bird was assured by her brother 
that she could give up the plan whenever she wished, that the girl 
finally consented to the separation. 

The plan was never fully explained to the old grandfather. If it 
had been, he would have cursed his recreant race and have turned his 
face to the wall and died. Shear Baumgarten's business scheme for 
which he intended to relinquish America was one in which the old 
man could sympathize ; for his son had become the agent of a so- 
ciety for assisting Jewish emigration to the Holy Land, and espe- 
cially to Jerusalem. And when the patriarch heard of this, he 
felt that the day of deliverance for Jacob was at hand. Shear's aims 



THE MYSTERY DISCLOSED. 59 

were purely mercenary. He had no great love for Jerusalem, and 
did not intend to spend much of his time there. He would travel 
in Europe wherever the business of the society called him, and he 
foresaw many shekels finding their way into his tenacious grasp ; 
but it would be well for the agent to have a home in Jerusalem. 
The old father should be gratified : he would be a fetching figure-head 
under his own vine and fig-tree. Besides, real estate would be likely 
to rise in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem ; it was a good time to in- 
vest. It might be a good plan to open a small but thoroughly first- 
class hotel. Such accommodation was rare and high priced in Je- 
rusalem, and Mrs. Baumgarten could carry on the establishment in 
his absence. This plan was carried out ; and it was in this way that 
she came to meet Frank Remington, and to minister to him in his 
illness. 

Mr. Baumgarten, representing himself as Bird's guardian, left her 
at a boarding-school in Boston, while Edward Orchard was entered 
at Andover. Bird remained at the school during the summer va- 
cation, and in the autumn her brother took her to Vassar and began 
his life at Harvard immediately after. 

Bird's life in these two years had been solitary, and her longing 
for her mother was so intense that when vacation came, learning 
that her mother could meet her in Austria, she insisted on spending 
the summer with her parents. But after the first joy of meeting, 
she was surprised to find that her American education was already 
producing its natural effect, and that her tastes were diverging from 
those of her parents. She no longer cared for the things in which 
they were most interested, or enjoyed the society in which they min- 
gled. It was a relief to find that she could rejoin them so easily, but 
she was glad when autumn came to return to college. She took up 
her studies with a new zest, and found herself enjoying the com- 
panionship of her class. It was true that she did not openly re- 
spond to Violet's advances toward intimacy, but she secretly gave 



60 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

her friend love for love, and longed to be frank with her. She de- 
clined Violet's invitations to visit her during the following vacations, 
and spent them at her boarding-school home in Boston. 

Edward, who accepted all the invitations of his schoolmates, re- 
proached her for this conduct, holding, with right, that she threw 
away opportunities for making valuable friendships. But Bird re- 
sented the suggestion of making her friends social stepping-stones, 
and withdrew more and more within herself until the vacation be- 
fore the last year of her college life, when Violet's importunities 
were not to be resisted, and Bird visited her friend. 

It was a visit of mingled sweet and bitter experiences. The 
Remingtons were very kind. They were cultured, delightful peo- 
ple. Mr. Remington had held offices of public trust with honor. 
He was a man of broad views, and noble nature. Mrs. Remington 
was refined, educated, and amiable. Bird felt herself drawn to them 
both, and sweetly sheltered in the atmosphere of their charming 
home. But one day it was suggested that they should spend a 
week at Saratoga ; and Mr. Remington having suggested a hotel, his 
wife remarked, — 

" Don't go there, Francis ; it is sure to be unpleasant. You 
know that hotel is patronized almost exclusively by Jews." 

Bird felt her face flame, but she said nothing. Thenceforward 
the perfect happiness which had so far characterized her visit was 
gone. 

Violet was very proud of her brother Frank. He had just com- 
pleted his studies in the Union Theological Seminary and was 
about to go abroad for a year with an archaeological expedition to ex- 
plore the ruins of Babylon. He was at home for a few weeks, only 
long enough for him to become interested in Bird without affording 
any opportunity for an understanding. Bird admired this enthusi- 
astic scholar, so unselfishly devoted to his mother and sister, so 
courteous and respectful to herself; but she was thankful when he 



THE MYSTERY DISCLOSED. 6 X 

went away, for she told herself that if they had remained longer in 
each other's society they might have come to care for each other, 
and that would never do. 

Emma Constant, who had visited the family at the same time, 
was apparently uninterested in the young man's personality, though 
she liked to talk with him about the subjects for which he cared, — 
Assyria, Egypt, and their ancient monuments. 

Bird, on the contrary, did not care a fig for cuneiform inscrip- 
tions, while she was immensely interested in the young explorer. 
But she ran away when he sought her for a game of tennis, and 
thwarted all of Violet's well-intentioned plans to throw them to- 
gether, realizing only too bitterly how great would have been her 
friend's disappointment if she had known that Bird was a Jewess. 
She sometimes imagined a meeting between Mrs. Remington and 
her father. How haughtily the lady would have surveyed Shear 
Baumgarten through her lifted lorgnette, saying to herself, if not 
aloud, " So this very objectionable person is the father of Violet's 
friend ! " 

And Frank? Very likely he too shared his parents' prejudices 
and would despise her when he knew that she was a Jewess. So 
Bird had resolutely put even his friendship from her, and had deter- 
mined never to see him again. But fate had thrown them together, 
quite against her will, for the delightful intimacy of the long Nile 
journey; and now that Frank had shown that he considered it no dis- 
grace to be a Hebrew, that he had even acknowledged that he loved 
her mother almost as he did his own, surely there was no reason why 
she should fight against their friendship. 

Why should she not make the Sinai trip? She knew that to her 
parents it did not matter. Her mother would gladly wait a few weeks 
to give her pleasure. It had been decided that she was to remain in 
the company of the Remingtons until her father either came for her or 
summoned her to join him. If she refused to travel with them it 



62 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



would only force them to wait with her in Cairo. There was really no 
excuse for her not to adapt herself to their plans. 

She was sure that if she told Frank he would not think the worse 
of her for her parentage. Then why not tell them all, and have this 
weight of secrecy and deceit removed ? 

This was the test that told Bird that all was not quite right even 
now. If Frank would not be shocked by the revelation of her ances- 
try, she knew too well that the others would ; and could he as readily 
forgive the long course of deception, the feigned name, and double 
life? That was the mistake, that was the wrong, and she bitterly 
repented ever having entered upon it. 

Her better nature came to the surface, and she determined that she 
would not take this tempting trip, but would tear herself away at once 
from her pleasant surroundings and go at once to her mother. She 
would leave a letter for Violet to read after she had gone, explaining 
all, and from henceforth lead an honest and open life which might be 
known and read of all. She could not bring herself to confess the 
truth before she left, and she knew that her friends would object to her 
leaving ; and to strengthen her own resolution she sent the following 
cablegram to her father : " Telegraph me that I must come home at 
once." IS There ! " she thought, " that settles everything. I can explain 
when I see him, and the Remingtons cannot urge me to remain when 
I have my father's peremptory order to come to him." 

Having written her cablegram, Bird intrusted it to their dragoman, 
Mohammed, to be sent. Mohammed was a character in his way. He 
could read and write in several languages, and had been a professional 
letter writer. He had accompanied Frank Remington on all his 
eastern wanderings. He understood four languages, was invaluable 
in many ways, and was deeply devoted to him. A more faithful crea^ 
ture could not have been found. As Frank said, he took care of him 
as though he were a baby, anticipating his wants and obeying imagi- 
nary orders. He was profoundly puzzled by Bird's telegram. What 







INTERIOR OF A MOSQUE. 



THE MYSTERY DISCLOSED. 



65 



could it mean ? The young lady was evidently enjoying the society 
of her friends, she could not wish to be summoned away from them. 
He kept it an entire day, striving to understand the case. Suddenly 
an inspiration came to him. The change of one little word would 
make all clear. Evidently Bird had intended to write, " Telegraph me 
if\ must come home at once." Having settled the matter to his own 
satisfaction Mohammed sent the telegram with this change, said noth- 
ing of what he had done, and went about with the serene and benevo- 
lent expression of countenance of a man who has accomplished his 
duty under trying circumstances. 

There was still much to interest them in Cairo ; and as the next 
day was Friday, Frank took them to the Mosque of El Akbar to see 
the dancing dervishes. Their ceremony took place in a round hall, 
surrounded by a sort of rotunda which was filled with visitors. No 
one was allowed to sit. The musicians in an upper gallery began a 
weird, wailing performance on flutes and little drums, and the der- 
vishes entered. Their sheik seated himself upon a prayer rug and 
the others bowed most obsequiously to him. Presently the dervishes, 
throwing off their long wraps, stepped forward and began their dance, 
which consisted simply of whirling round and round rapidly, and still 
more rapidly, until their white skirts, although weighted down, stood 
out in a circle. 

Their eyes were closed, and they were evidently striving to make 
themselves dizzy, for when so, the soul, as they believe, oblivious to 
outward things is withdrawn into the spirit world. 

The same afternoon they saw the howling dervishes at their con- 
vent in Old Cairo. They were wild-looking men, with matted hair 
and extinguisher shaped hats. They threw off these hats before 
their service, and standing in a great circle, went through a fright- 
ful sort of gymnastic exercise, rocking backward and forward and 
repeating the name of Allah in concert. At first this bowing was 
slow and solemn, but as the trumpets sounded more loudly and in 

5 



66 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

quicker time, the heads bobbed faster and farther, backward and 
forward, and " Allah ! Allah ! " was shrieked more loudly and fiercely. 
Sometimes it seemed as if their necks must be dislocated, so far 
did they throw their heads backward. As they became more and 
more frenzied, they shrieked, they groaned and bounded, and one 
fell fainting at Violet's feet, grasping her dress in his clinched 
hands. 

Violet uttered a faint scream. " Help ! " and a young English- 
man in a semi-military uniform knelt at her side and attempted 
to open the stiffened fingers. 

" Oh, never mind my gown ! " Violet exclaimed. " He is dying ! " 

" Not at all," replied the young man ; and using his white hel- 
met as a fan, he succeeded in a few minutes in bringing the dervish 
to consciousness. He looked about him in a dazed, bewildered 
way as the Englishman raising him to a sitting posture remarked : 

" There, my good fellow, you 've carried your monkey-shines a 
little too far, you know. Here, take a sniff at the young lady's 
smelling-salts. No, no, they are not good to eat ! " But he was too 
late ; the fanatic had burned his tongue with the sal-volatile, and 
he now made such horrible contortions that Violet, thoroughly 
frightened, hurried away, without waiting for the return of her 
vinaigrette. 

Violet's artistic sense revelled in the mosques of Cairo. Her 
favorite was that of the Sultan Hassan at the foot of the Citadel. 
It is partly built with the casing stones of the great pyramid, one of its 
minarets is the highest in Cairo, and the mosque itself is considered 
by many the finest specimen of Arabian architecture in Egypt. 
There is a legend that at its completion the architect's hands were cut 
off that he might never design a more beautiful building. Such 
were the rewards with which the sultans encouraged the arts. 

The Rameleh Place back of the mosque is the starting place 
for the Mecca pilgrimage and the rendezvous for religious riots. 



THE MYSTERY DISCLOSED. 67 

The day after their visit to the dervishes, the party drove out 
to Gizeh to see the pyramids. It was an experience never to be 
forgotten. These three great pyramids, with whose distant aspect 
they were so familiar, lie about ten miles west of Cairo. The 
largest is the great pyramid of Cheops, the oldest and largest 
building in the world. It was old when the Parthenon was built, when 
Solomon dedicated the Temple, when Moses spread the Tabernacle, 
and even when Abraham, a wandering sheik, visited Egypt. 

It covers thirteen acres and towers to a height of four hundred 
and sixty feet. 

Details in figures are soon forgotten, and rarely help the imagi- 
nation to comprehend grandeur. The computation that this pyra- 
mid contains over six million tons in solid masonry does not make 
its enormous bulk loom before us, though the statement that 
three hundred thousand workmen were employed for ten years in 
its construction does give a little idea of the immensity of the 
undertaking. 

" There is only one word which is big enough for it," Bird said, 
" and that is tremendous. It is simply tre-;/z^dous." 

The young people were all good climbers, and they performed 
the difficult task of mounting to the top. Two Arabs pulled in 
front and another lifted or pushed in the rear. Enthusiasm car- 
ried them to the top and back, but they were lame for days after. 

The guides spoke a mixture of many languages. 

" Pretty lady, good walkee. Allez doucement ! I liky you. Pa- 
tienza, signore ; we half way now, — dem halben weg, Fraiilein. I good 
guide, get lady top first ; lady give good baksheesh. Voila, mademoi- 
selle, nous voila! Bullee for you! Reposez vous un instant; two 
step more, and ecco la cima ! " 

Emma reached the summit first, but refused indignantly the 
offer of a chisel with which to engrave her name. " Who knows," 
asked Frank, " but it might be as interesting to posterity as the 



68 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

cartouches of the first families of Egypt which we have to deci- 
pher," and he proceeded to chisel a primitive representation of a small 
fowl perched upon a tree, which he asserted was Bird's cartouche. 

"Where's the man who always runs down and up again in ten 
minutes for as many cents ? " Bird asked ; and a lithe young fellow who 
lay panting on the edge rose eagerly. 

" No, you shall not do it," Violet said. " Here is a franc, but do 
not attempt it. It is frightfully dangerous and must be a terrible sight 
to witness.'' 

" I wish that all these horrid, chattering Arabs would go away," 
Emma exclaimed impatiently. " One ought to feel impressed by the 
situation. Here we are, lifted up as on a great altar, between heaven 
and earth, with all Egypt spread out at our feet. We ought to feel 
the sublimity of the thing ; but it is impossible to do so with Murad 
entreating you to buy his antiquities, Ibrahim pointing out all the 
minarets of Cairo, and Suleiman expanding on the excellence of his 
donkeys." 

The top of the pyramid was not a mere point, but a platform some 
thirty feet square, with a big block affording convenient seats, and 
there was room for the entire party to rest very comfortably. 

" I wonder why the pyramids were built," Violet mused. " They 
seem so out of all proportion as mere tombs." 

" I fancy, however, that they have no other reason for being," 
Frank replied. " I have explored the long passage which leads to the 
two chambers in the heart of the pyramid. One of them contains an 
empty sarcophagus." 

" Can we see it ? " Bird asked eagerly. 

" I would not advise you to make the attempt. It is a much more 
difficult task than the climb we have just accomplished. The passages 
are so low that one must stoop — almost crawl — to get through them. 
Moreover, they are dark, slippery, and stifling, and the result does not 
repay the exertion." 



THE MYSTERY DISCLOSED. 69 

" Is there not some theory that the pyramids show that the ancient 
Egyptians were versed in geometry and astronomy ? " Emma asked. 

" That is evident from the construction of the great pyramid," 
Frank replied. " Its sides face exactly the four points of the compass, 
north, south, east, and west. Then each side of the base measures 
three hundred and sixty-five and one-fourth cubits, which is exactly 
the number of days in the year, with the six additional hours. It is 
even said that the builder must have been familiar with the problem 
of squaring a circle, for its height is to the circumference of its base as 
the radius of a circle is to its circumference. There have been theo- 
rists who have made it responsible for their own ideas in a way which 
seems to me very absurd, making it a sort of petrified Bible, full of 
divine wisdom and prophecy. These theories would doubtless greatly 
astonish its designer if they could be explained to him." 

The descent of the pyramid was even more difficult than its ascent. 
As Bird described it afterward, each step was only like jumping down 
from a dinner table; but when this was repeated over a hundred times 
the fun of the performance was lost in its monotony. 

All were very weary and glad to rest at the inn, not far from the 
foot, where they had arranged to dine. 

After dinner they strolled out to visit the Sphinx, who keeps guard 
near by. He is a colossal creature, with a man's head and lion's 
paws. Many other sphinxes are to be found in Egypt, but this is the 
grandest. The ruins of a temple were discovered at a little distance 
from it, and sacrifices were offered on an altar, fifty feet long, between 
its paws. 

As they went in to dinner they turned to observe the shadow 
of the pyramid as the sun goes down, so well described by Miss 
Edwards. 

" That mighty shadow, sharp and distinct, stretched across the 
stony platform of the desert, and over full three-quarters of a mile of 
the green plain below. It divided the sunlight where it fell, just as its 



7 o 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



great original divided the sunlight in the upper air, and it darkened the 
space it covered like an eclipse." 

It was moonlight now, and the stars were shining, lustrous, and 
seemingly near. It was as if they had recognized the pains taken by 
the young tourists to mount and pay them a friendly visit, and had 
dropped down a little as a return of the courtesy. 

They stood on the altar space in the embrace of the lion-headed 
Horus, who had assumed this disguise, according to the old myth, to 
vanquish Typhon, the Spirit of Evil, and understood the secret of the 
Sphinx. To conquer evil one must be lion-like and brave, and even a 
hero cannot do this without superhuman aid. 

They drove back to Cairo in the soft night, the moonlight throw- 
ing its phantasmagoria over the mightiest of tombs and the enigmati- 
cal Sphinx looking after them with stony, sleepless eyes. 

" It is a fitting end to it all," thought Bird. " The telegram that 
calls me from this pleasant companionship is probably waiting for me 
at the hotel." 

A subtle mental magnetism suggested the idea of the telegram to 
the others, and Frank said cheerfully : " You ought to have heard from 
your father today, Miss Orchard ; and if his answer is propitious you 
know we will start on Monday." 

" It must be exactly as Father telegraphs," Bird replied ; " and you 
must promise not to make it any harder for me if he refuses his 
permission." 

"We promise," Violet replied; "and you, dear, must not think of 
any other excuse if he leaves it to your choice, or we shall doubt 
whether you care for us." 

And Bird, anticipating the peremptory order, " Come home imme- 
diately," promised, " The telegram shall decide." 

Mohammed stood in front of the hotel awaiting: their return, and 
he waved aloft a bit of colored paper. " Telegram come this morning 
just after you start," he said. " I read him; it all right," and Moham- 
med smiled benevolently. 



THE M YSTER Y DISCL OSED. 7 3 

" But you had no right to open the telegram," Frank protested. 

" I want to see whether better I get horse and take it out to 
pyramid after you. But no, it not worth to spend the money. There 
no hurry ; telegram can wait. It all right." 

" Then Bird can go with us ! " Violet exclaimed. " Oh, how 
delightful ! " 

Mohammed grinned from ear to ear. " Young lady go all right ; " 
and he added to himself, " Mohammed very wise man, Mohammed 
very kind man. Mohammed change that one little word, make every- 
body happy." 

Meantime Bird, who had no suspicion of the way in which her 
telegram had been altered, read with stupefaction : " No haste. 
Remain with your friends until they arrive at Jerusalem." 

A wild idea of pretending that the telegram summoned her to 
leave immediately flashed through Bird's mind. But no : Mohammed 
had read and announced its contents, and they were already rejoicing 
that she was to remain. She had fought against her fate in vain ; a 
kind of reckless feeling that she had no longer any responsibility in 
the matter came over her. Let happen what might, it was not her 
fault ; it was Kismet, or fate. 



CHAPTER IV. 




A CARAVAN JOURNEY. 

OHAMMED had a not agreeable surprise 
also for Frank. While they had been 
away, two Englishmen had besought him 
to act as their dragoman as far as Sinai, 
where they expected to be met by Bed- 
ouin guides who would escort them on 
to Palestine by the way of Petra. As it 
would be very little more trouble to pur- 
vey for a party of eight than for six, Mohammed had agreed to 
do this; and the gentlemen would join them at Suez. The entire 
party were indignant. 

" You have no right to do this," Frank exclaimed. " I have 
engaged your services, and you cannot serve any one else without 
first quitting me." 

Mohammed protested his devotion ; nothing could make him leave 
so good a master. The trifling duties which he would perform for the 
Englishmen would not prevent his doing his entire duty by his 
present master. Moreover, the Englishmen were willing to pay exactly 
as if they alone had engaged the cook and all the servants necessary 
to their equipment, which would greatly reduce the expense of the trip, 
as Mohammed intended that all of this profit should accrue to Frank. 
They were brave men also, possessing an entire arsenal of arms ; one 



A CARAVAN JOURNEY. 75 

of them was an officer of the Royal Engineers. They would serve as a 
military escort, and the party be much safer for their presence. Mr. 
Remington and Frank felt the force of these arguments, and their 
anger cooled. 

Mrs. Remington was still indignant. " We do not know these 
gentlemen, and I cannot consent to admit them into the intimacy of 
our family without a suitable introduction. Call on them, Frank, and 
see whether they are desirable additions to the party, and what cre- 
dentials they can offer." 

" Impossible. They have gone on to Suez, where they expect to 
meet us." 

" I think it very cool and impertinent in them to imagine that we 
could receive them in this way. It is not our fault if they are disap- 
pointed. We will simply inform them when we see them that 
Mohammed had no right to make the arrangement, and that it is 
quite impossible." 

" But reflect, my dear," suggested Mr. Remington, " that if these 
gentlemen should prove unexceptionable they might be a pleasant 
addition to the party." 

Mrs. Remington was inexorable. Their names — Dr. Marcher 
and Captain Blakeslee, as reported by Mohammed — were utterly 
unknown to her, and as chaperone of three attractive girls she 
could never consent to so irregular a proceeding. Mr. Remington 
might make what apologies or explanations he thought best when 
they met the gentlemen in Suez. 

The next afternoon, as they took a little farewell stroll in the beau- 
tiful Ezbekiyeh Gardens, Violet confided to Bird the fact that one of 
the gentlemen who wished to make the caravan trip with them was 
the young English officer whom they had met at the service of the 
howling dervishes. 

" How do you know this ? " Bird asked. 

" He returned my vinaigrette to Mohammed with this note, — 



76 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

" ' Miss Remington will be glad to know that the dervish who fell at her feet in a fit 
has entirely recovered. Captain Blakeslee has the honor to return her vinaigrette, and to 
congratulate himself on the prospect of so novel and delightful a journey in Miss 
Remington's company.' " 

" Your mother would be furious if she knew this." 

" She does know it. Of course I showed it to her. I never have 
any secrets from my mother. What are mothers for, I should like to 
know, if not to advise us in such matters ? She was not furious, but 
simply gravely displeased with the young man's effrontery. ' This 
proves that I was right,' she said ; ' these people evidently have 
no idea of the safeguards with which Americans surround their 
daughters.' It was a presuming thing to do, and I am glad the 
young man has been taught a lesson." 

They left Cairo by rail in the morning for Suez, passing rapidly 
through the Land of Goshen, a little south of the Wady Tumilat, 
the region supposed to have been assigned to Joseph's brethren on 
their settlement in Egypt. It is still one of the most beautiful dis- 
tricts of Egypt, and is watered by the Sweet Water Canal running 
from the Nile to Suez. At the eastern end of this canal was the 
region called Succoth (a place of tents), the rendezvous of the chil- 
dren of Israel, for their great desert journey. It was called Thuku-t 
on the Egyptian inscriptions. 

In Oriental cities the plain outside the gate used as the camping- 
place for caravans is called the Soc, — a word evidently of the same 
derivation. This was very vividly impressed upon my mind when I 
saw the Mecca pilgrims encamped in the Soc outside the city of 
Tangier in Morocco. 

The principal city of Succoth was Pithom, whose site has been 
lately discovered, near Ismalia. This was the treasure city mentioned 
in the first chapter of Exodus, which the children of Israel built for 
Pharaoh. Miss Edwards thus describes its discovery : — "It was in 
February, 1883, that M. Naville discovered the foundations of a forti- 



A CA RA VA N JO URNE Y. 77 

fied city or store fort. In one corner were found the ruins of a 
temple built by Rameses II. The rest of the area consisted of a 
labyrinth of subterranean cellars or store chambers, constructed of 
sun-dried bricks. In the ruins of the temple were found legends 
engraved upon statues giving both the name of the city, — Pa Turn 
(Pithom), and the name of the district, — Thuku-t (Succoth). Even 
the bricks bear eloquent testimony to the toil of the suffering colo- 
nists, and confirm in its minutest details the record of the oppression, 
some being duly kneeded with straw ; others, when the straw was no 
longer forthcoming, being mixed with the leafage of a reed common 
to the marsh lands of the delta ; and the remainder, when even this 
substitute ran short, being literally ' bricks without straw,' moulded of 
mere clay crudely dried in the sun." 

Frank was all enthusiasm. He was sure that Pithom was the 
usual camping-place for caravans going east, as Birket el Haji, near 
Cairo, is the rendezvous for the great annual caravan for Mecca. 

" You don't pretend that you can identify the entire itinerary of the 
children of Israel ? " asked Mr. Remington, a little incredulous. 

But Frank asserted confidently that this could very nearly be 
done. " There are three theories," he explained, " about the route of 
the Exodus. The first is derived from the Arab tradition, which 
locates the crossing of the Red Sea several miles south of Suez, where 
the sea is twelve miles broad. Another is one invented by Dr. 
Brugsch, who plausibly identifies the Hebrew camping-stations with 
disputed localities in the north of Egypt, and supposes that the chil- 
dren of Israel crossed, not the Red Sea at all, but the Sirbonian Lake, 
which was frequently swept dry by winds. This theory twists the 
Bible account beyond probability, while the Arab tradition makes the 
miracle unnecessarily stupendous. The route accepted by the major- 
ity of Bible scholars is, that the crossing took place at the head of the 
gulf, a little north of Suez, which is here less than a mile wide, and 
abounds in sandbanks which become islands at low water." 



78 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

Dr. Philip Schaff advocates this theory as follows : " In ordi- 
nary times, many a caravan crossed the ford at the head of the 
gulf at low ebb, before the Suez Canal was built; and Napoleon, 
deceived by the tidal wave, attempted to cross it on returning from 
Ayun Musa in 1799, and nearly met the fate of Pharaoh. 

" The question (as regards the miracles) is whether God sus- 
pended the laws of Nature, or whether he used them as agencies 
both for the salvation of his people and for the overthrow of his 
enemies. The express mention of the 'strong east wind,' which 
Jehovah caused to blow ' all the night,' decidedly favors the latter 
view. The tide at Suez, which I watched from the top of the 
Suez Hotel, is very strong and rapid, especially under the action 
of the north-east wind. This wind often prevails, and acts power- 
fully on the ebb tide, driving out the waters from the small arm 
of the sea which runs up by Suez, while the more northern part 
would still remain covered with water, so that the waters on both 
sides served as walls of defence or entrenchments to the passing 
army of Israel. In no other part of the gulf would the east wind 
have the effect of driving out the water. Dr. Robinson calls the 
miracle a ' miraculous adaptation of the laws of Nature to produce 
a desired result' The same view is adopted by other modern 
scholars. It does not diminish the miracle, but only adapts it to 
the locality and the natural agency which is expressly mentioned 
by the Bible narrative." 

On reaching Suez the tourists found that their would-be com- 
panions had made a little trip up the canal, and had left word that 
they would meet the Remingtons the next day, which was the date 
set for the departure of the caravan. 

Mrs. Remington wished to start immediately, leaving a curt 
letter of explanation for the Englishmen ; but Mohammed protested 
that if they were not to be allowed to travel in their company he 
was bound to see that they were provided with another dragoman 



A CA RA VAN JO URNE Y. Jg 

and all the necessary retinue, and that it was absolutely necessary 
for him to see them personally in order to arrange matters. Frank 
too, wished to drive out to Bir Suweis, about two miles from Suez, 
where are ruins supposed to be those of Migdol, the tower or fort 
near which the children of Israel made their last encampment be- 
fore crossing the Red Sea. Mr. Remington and the ladies, with 
the exception of Bird, who announced that she had some writing 
to do, spent the day in exploring Suez, and in watching the great 
ships just in from their long voyages from India and China, from 
Ceylon and Australia and the Malay Peninsula, from Madagascar and 
the eastern coast of Africa and the far away islands of the Pacific, — 
all of these lands being brought closer to Europe by the Suez Canal ; 
and their strange shipping moored beside iron steamships from the 
Clyde, and English men-of-war. Violet counted the flags of thirteen 
different nationalities, — an inspiring and suggestive sight. Moham- 
med showed them the small steamer in which they were to cross the 
next day, and then took them to inspect their caravan, which was 
to start that night, and make the trip by land around the head of 
the gulf. " I do not see," Violet remarked, " why the children of 
Israel did not go that way instead of necessitating a miracle to open 
the way for them." 

" I have read," Emma replied, " that at the time of the Exodus 
a great wall with strongly garrisoned watch-towers at intervals ex- 
tended from Pelusium on the Mediterranean to the Gulf of Suez, 
taking very nearly the route of the Suez Canal. When Pharaoh 
pursued them, they were shut in on every side, — the wall and the 
sea on the west, the mountains on the east and south, and the 
Egyptian army following them from the north." 

Mrs. Remington's first view of the caravan gave her grave ap- 
prehensions. There were sixteen camels laden with the tent equi- 
page, provisions, — including water-barrels and chickens in coops, — 
a small stove and cooking utensils, with a great variety of baggage. 



go THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

And there were as many wild-looking Bedouins, who were to serve 
them in different capacities. 

" I really tremble at confiding ourselves to the care of those 
men," she said to her husband. 

" Frank says that Mohammed's fidelity has been proved," Mi- 
Remington replied reassuringly. 

" But he and we are completely in their power, if they should 
decide to carry us off and hold us for ransom. I wish we had two 
or three English soldiers as escort." 

" But that would add immensely to the expense and inconven- 
ience of the trip." 

Mrs. Remington flushed slightly and hesitated. " If we only 
knew something about the two gentlemen who wished to join our 
caravan." 

Mr. Remington seized eagerly at the first sign of relenting on 
his wife's part. " I inquired at Cairo, my dear," he replied, " and 
Captain Blakeslee is well known. He was in the relief expedition 
which General Woolsey sent out to Khartoum after Gordon. He 
is very highly spoken of. The other gentleman is a tourist, recently 
arrived in Egypt, a physician. Think how convenient, my dear, 
if any of us should fall sick to have a physician in the party." 

" I should never trust my case however desperate with any one 
but Dr. Trotter," said Mrs. Remington, emphatically. 

" But as Dr. Trotter is in Spuyten Dyvil and there is no tele- 
phonic connection between the Desert of Arabia and his office, 
if one of the young ladies in our party was taken suddenly ill or 
was bitten by a serpent, it might be well to have medical advice 
at hand." 

Mrs. Remington wavered. " We will wait one day longer," she 
said to her husband. " Tell Mohammed to hold back the cara- 
van until we have met the Englishmen. Perhaps we can arrange 
for them to accompany us without actually associating with them. 



A CA RA VA N JO URNE Y. 







■ft 'f(f S' V'.'h^ '/ 

ARABS OF THE DESEKT. 

We might manage to let them have a separate dining-tent. At 
any rate, it is probably wisest to see them and talk the matter 
over." 

The donkey boys of Suez besieged them in very much the same 
fashion as those of Cairo. Each boy has a different name for his don- 
key which he thinks will appeal to travellers of different nationalities. 
In talking with a Frenchman he will assert that M. de Lesseps named 

6 



g 2 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

this beast Bernhart ; to an Englishman he will swear that it was 
called Annie Laurie, by the Prince of Wales, on account of its sweet- 
ness of temper, while an American will learn that this donkey was 
christened Yankee Doodle by General Grant because it beats all 
the world. 

On their return to the hotel Violet found Bird absorbed in her 
writing. Sheets of closely written MS. lay on the floor, and her 
cheeks were flushed and her eyes bright. After dinner she again shut 
herself up in her room and continued her task, much to the disgust of 
Frank, who longed to explain his explorations to her. Emma was 
quite as much interested in the inscriptions which he had copied, and 
had really made some progress in reading hieroglyphics ; but strange 
to say, Frank preferred Bird's appreciation to hers. 

The next morning as they were seated at breakfast a note was 
handed Mr. Remington. 

It was from Captain Blakeslee. " My uncle desires me to say,' 5 
he wrote, " that as we wish to make some explorations in this vicinity 
we will not be able to join you until the day after to-morrow ; and he 
trusts that this delay will not seriously inconvenience you, as he is 
anticipating much pleasure from your society and that of the ladies." 

Mrs. Remington paled with indignation. " This decides the 
matter," she exclaimed ; " we set out at once." 

" The man certainly has a good deal of presumption," Mr. Rem- 
ington replied ; and Mohammed was ordered to put another drago- 
man in communication with the two strangers, and to give orders for 
the immediate departure of their own caravan. 

Accordingly, in a few hours they crossed the gulf in a little steamer 
and were met on the Arabian side by their caravan. After a ride of 
about two hours they reached their first camping-place, Ayun Musa 
or the Wells of Moses, — a small oasis in the desert. Here they found 
a number of springs of water, a little collection of Arab huts with their 
gardens and palms, which reminded them of Elim " where were twelve 



A CA RA VA N JO URNE Y. 83 

fountains of water and three score and ten palm-trees." The gentle- 
men took a bath in the Red Sea ; and the girls visited the Arab huts, 
bought some fruit of the half-naked children, and rested at Moses' 
Well. " Does not this call to mind that beautiful hymn about Elim ? " 
Emma asked. 

" I do not think I remember it," Bird replied, and Emma repeated 
one verse, — 

" Calm me my God, and keep me calm ; 
May thine outstretched wing 
Be like the shade of Elim's palm 
Beside her desert spring." 

The sun had been scorching, and the shade of the palms under 
which their tents were spread was very refreshing. That evening the 
cook served them quite an elaborate dinner, with fish and meats fresh 
from the Suez markets ; and after dinner the party chatted until the 
stars came out. The Bedouin servants, around their camp-fire, seemed 
to be enjoying story-telling, whether of pilgrimages to Mecca or tales 
of the Arabian Nights there was a division of opinion. 

Mrs. Remington proposed, as the trip would last three weeks, to 
render their evenings less monotonous that each member of the party 
should be responsible for the entertainment of the party for two 
evenings. 

" Good ! " said Violet. " And as Bird has been engaged in author- 
ship for several days past, I propose that she begin by reading us her 
story to-morrow night." 

After some urging Bird was induced to consent ; and the next 
evening as they sat around their camp-fire, the ladies ensconced in 
steamer-chairs and the gentlemen stretched upon blankets, Bird, 
looking very pretty as she fingered nervously the leaves of her 
manuscript, explained the scope of her story. 

She had tried to throw the stories of Joseph and of Moses into the 
form of a little romance with this result : — 



34 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



THE SECRETS OF THE OBELISKS. 

" Aback in the darlingest days of the earth, 
Oh, dear old days that are lost to sight." 






There was surprise and gossip at the court of Rameses the Great when it 
was known that the Princess Meris had adopted a foundling. Had she not a 
brother Menephtah of the same age as her little favorite Mesu on whom she 
might have lavished any overflow of affection ? 

Menepthah as the years went by brooded over this slight, as he chose to 
consider it. The two boys were at swords' points as soon as they could toddle; 
for Menepthah was perpetually serving Mesu some cowardly trick, and Mesu 
was quick with his fists, and had no great respect for the blood royal. 

The antagonism deepened as the boys grew older and entered college 
together in the ancient university city of On. The course of study for the 
kind's sons was somewhat optional; but Mesu chose voluntarily the severest 
departments, devoting himself to the studies of the theological school, and 
to the course in magic, which corresponded to our physics and natural sci- 
ences. Besides these branches he applied himself deeply to jurisprudence, 
mathematical astronomy, and literature. Strange to say he excelled in all. 
He understood as by instinct the science of government; and the aged pro- 
fessor of jurisprudence regretted that there was only a very slight chance that 
Mesu might some day govern Egypt as the adopted son of the Princess Meris. 
The Enchanter from Ur of the Chaldees lamented that Mesu took so little 
interest in his chemical experiments, for as a wizard he might have confounded 
the world ; but the professor of theology was glad at heart, for he looked 
forward to the time when Mesu would wear the leopard's skin as high priest 
of the Temple of the Sun after their present superior should be gathered to his 
fathers. For the present, the boy's preference seemed to be literature. He 
wrote poems on grand themes and in difficult metres, theses on any subject, — 
masterpieces of eloquence which other students delivered, for his was the 
eloquence of thought and not of speech or of presence. He had an inquiring, 
philosophical mind which busied itself with first causes ; and he was now at 
work upon a Book of Origins, which he intended as a history of the human 
race, and which he had not yet showed his instructor. 

Menephtah reviled him for a self-torturing fool, and in contrast proved 
himself during his entire college course an inveterate shirk. Son of a fierce 



A CARAVAN JOURNEY. 



85 



fighter and conqueror, he was an arrant coward, and declined studying military 
tactics lest the fact should procure him an appointment in the army. 

The other studies selected by Mesu were as little to his taste ; but, since he 
must make a pretence of studying something, he entered his name as a special 

student in a department lately founded and endowed by his father, that of 

architecture and decorative art. Rameses had a passion for architecture. At 
this time he was directing additions to the great temple of Karnak, and had 




MEDINET, COURT OF RAMESES. 



finished for the Princess Meris the jewel-box pavilion of Medinet Habou. 
Accomplished architects and artists lectured and taught at the University, and 
Menephtah became a dilettante artist and critic. The creation of beautiful objects 
proving on trial too laborious, he decided to collect them only; and his rooms 
soon became a veritable museum. Statues and paintings, furniture of the 
choicest woods, instruments of music, gorgeous birds, stuffs and jewels, but 
above all pottery, were to be found here in profusion. A china closet volcano 
seemed suddenly to have become active and to have spurted plates, jars, cups, 
and vases over the walls and shelves. Jugs, bowls, and urns appeared in the 
general upheaval to have caught on every projection. Porcelain figurines, 



86 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

colored blue with oxide of copper, bushels of glass beads, full of wavy lines 
and braided colors like those of Venetian workmanship loaded plaques and 
trays or were stored in tiny cabinets. 

Mesu viewed this collection with intense scorn. " Can man be created to 
fritter away his life with such toys? " he asked contemptuously; and he added, 
" Rightly art thou called Menephtah, — devoted to Nepthys, the lady of the 
house, who bears upon her head as her emblems a house surmounted by a 
dish. A house could furnish ample room for thy ambition, and the decoration 
of a bowl is an all too difficult problem for thy weak intellect." 

Menephtah could think of no sarcasm with which to express his rage, and 
so resorted to epithets, calling Mesu Jew and slave, as the most insulting terms 
which he could devise. It was a random shot, but Mesu turned pale and his 
lifted arm stiffened. What if Menephtah possessed the clew to his unknown 
origin? He brooded over the suspicion in secret, and recalled the tenderness 
of his Hebrew nurse, and the sisterly affection of her daughter Miriam. Once, 
too, when she brought the rather unlovable little boy, Aaron, to play with him, 
the servants had commented upon the resemblance between them. It came to 
him as a revelation that this was his family, — the despised race his kinsmen. 
He grew more moody and eccentric, and lost favor with his professors as he 
had with his fellow-students. He became argumentative and even quarrel- 
some, striving, apparently, to trip up his preceptors and mortify them before 
their classes. He studied in a freakish way, — now probing a subject more 
deeply than his instructors, and astonishing them by his erudition, now ap- 
pearing in the class-room utterly unprepared, and giving as his only excuse 
his opinion that the subject was unworthy of consideration. He was at vari- 
ance with himself and the existing order of things. He began even to cavil 
at religion. 

To him, as to all educated in the mysteries of the Egyptian religion, Ra, the 
sun-god, was only a symbol for the Ineffable. 

"The Egyptian devotee never attributed to Ra or to Anubis the actual pos- 
session of a human body with either the beak of a hawk or the snout of a 
jackal," says an able Egyptologist. The entire pantheon of symbolic gro- 
tesques "was regarded simply as a metaphor to convey to the mind's eye the 
attributes of a being who was himself inconceivable and indescribable." 

This was true as regarded the educated classes ; but the masses were falling 
into gross idolatry, and this troubled Mesu. He wrestled mightily in argument 
with his theological professors, begging that the central fact of the One God might 
be distinctly announced and explained to the multitude. But that curse of 
priestcraft — the possession of secrets considered too sacred for human nature's 




MEDINET, TEMPLE-PALACE OF RAMESES. 



A CARAVAN JOURNEY. 89 

daily food — could not be broken ; and the older priests replied with the argu- 
ment that such knowledge would be dangerous for the ignorant, and that they 
would immediately lapse from all religious rites into infidelity, — an argument 
which Luther doubtless resisted, and which many timorous leaders of our own 
day have fastened as a padlock over their own liberal ideas. But Mesu was 
fearless. Better infidelity to a religious system than infidelity to God ; and in 
his inmost heart he determined that when he stood before the altar as an 
initiated priest, the whole truth should be bravely proclaimed. 

His other studies were carrying him into as deep waters. He had a hot argu- 
ment with his professor of political economy on the subject of slavery. These 
Hebrews who were working in the murderous mines, who were hewing stone and 
burning brick under the lash of the task-master, to build the palaces and temples 
of Rameses, — why should they be made to serve against their will ? Why 
should they not receive a fair reward for their labor? One after another of the 
university faculty shook their heads and groaned in spirit over Mesu. " He is 
becoming restless and insubordinate," said the High-Priest-President. " He is 
blossoming into an agitator, an abolitionist, a political conspirator," said the 
professor of jurisprudence. " He is paying too little attention to his astronomy, 
to his literature, to his magic," said the professors in these several departments. 
" He is paying decidedly too much attention to his theology," said the occupant 
of the theological chair. " If he goes on he will revolutionize the religion of 
Egypt ; he is a young man of very dangerous heterodox ideas." 

"What shall we do with him, gentlemen?" asked the high priest, drum- 
ming uneasily on the arm of his presidential chair. 

" Discipline — expulsion," was suggestively whispered from various quarters. 

" He is the favorite of the Princess Meris," replied the high priest. "We 
have always been lenient to members of the royal family. Certainly if any 
one deserves discontinuance it is that dolt Menephtah, and yet his name is still 
allowed to disgrace our catalogue." 

The reverend dons fell to thinking severely, and some under the protracted 
mental strain fell asleep, to be awakened sharply by the entrance of a royal 
courier with a message from Rameses. 

"He desires that panegyrics to himself be inscribed on either side of those 
to Thothmes III., on the two great obelisks before our college." 

" But that is a very difficult as well as dangerous undertaking," spoke 
up the art professor, who was also master architect. " No one will do 
it voluntarily, be the reward ever so great; dizzy scaffoldings must be erected, 
and the graver mount by ladders or be hoisted by ropes to the summit. One 
downward glance, and he would fall a lump of senseless flesh upon the pave- 



9 o 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



ment Let the King send some condemned criminals for this office. We 
shall need at least four, for we must count on killing three before the task is 
completed." 

The courier bowed deeply. "The prison is empty; my royal master sug- 
gested that the work might be done by students of the University." 



•* ; 'tf 





OBELISK OF ON. 



A groan of consternation broke from the lips of the high priest. " And 
which of our beloved boys shall we dedicate to certain death?" 

" Mesu," replied the professor of theology, with alacrity; "and if we are 
so .fortunate thus to be rid of him, Menephtah, the scandal of the college, can 
complete the work." 






A CARAVAN JOURNEY. 9 1 

" And may Typhon grant," replied the art professor, " that the work com- 
plete him." 

While the faculty of the University were in session, Mesu, unconscious that 
his life hung in the balance, walked before the college. The two obelisks of 
Thothmes III. stood before the pylons of the temple. He had seen them 
every day, and had felt a sort of kinship for them, standing so silent and soli- 
tary, pointing upward with significant finger before the unthinking, unheed- 
ing rabble of boys who played about their bases. The students in his early 
novitiate had nicknamed him " The Obelisk," because he too was solitary and 
silent. A hesitation in speaking had excluded him from the school of oratory, 
and as they ridiculed his stuttering he became more and more taciturn, — a 
thinker and not a babbler. One of the obelisks in especial he came to re- 
gard as his double self. It was closely written over with hieroglyphs. A long 
line ran down the centre of each face, — the inscription of its founder, Thoth- 
mes III., a panegyric to that sovereign, and to the sun-god, adored particu- 
larly in this city. The hawk was dedicated to the sun because it seemed to 
soar nearest the fiery orb, and on the obelisk Thothmes was called the, — 

" Golden hawk 
Who has struck the kings of 
All lands approaching him, 
After the commandment 
Of his father Ra. 
Victory over the entire world 
And valiance of sword are at 
His hands 

For the extension of the limits 
Of Egypt, 

The son of the Sun, 
Thothmes the life-giver." 

Other obelisks stood amid the sphinxes and temples of On, but none had 
interested Mesu as had this one. 

To-day he noticed that its shadow pointed straight to an older and taller 
obelisk of Osirtasen I. Mechanically he paced the long line of shadow, and 
found its point resting against this other obelisk, exactly opposite a small 
crevice between the monolith and its base. He slipped his fingers within the 
crevice and drew from it a time-yellowed bit of parchment closely covered 
with hieroglyphic writing. Placing it in his bosom, he carried it to his cell 
and studied it far into the night. It was only a diary and package of letters, 
written apparently by the wife of Zaphnathpaneah ; but it interested him deeply 



92 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

enough to drive all moody and revengeful thoughts from his breast for that night 
at least, for the decision of the faculty regarding the fate of the two boys was 
not announced until the next morning." 

Bird paused suddenly. " The camp-fire has gone out," she said- 
" I think you have had enough for one evening, and I will say, ' To 
be continued in my next.' " 

" You are most provoking," Violet said ; " you have not only 
broken off the history of Mesu, or Moses, at a most exciting point, 
but you have introduced a mysterious packet of letters whose 
contents we are eager to know, and our curiosity has a double 
edge." 

" Which will you have first ? " Bird asked, " the fate of Mesu 
or the story which he has just discovered?" 

" Mesu can wait," Emma replied, in a matter of fact way. " We 
all know that he must have survived the obelisk ordeal,, so that our 
interest is not of the breathless kind that hangs upon a fate in un- 
certainty but only a lively interest in how you will manage it. 
Whereas these letters, I strongly suspect will treat of one of the 
most entertaining historical romances to be found, not only in the 
story of Joseph in the Old Testament, but in any literature." 

" Following then the example of the Thousand and One Nights," 
said Bird, on the next evening, " I will interrupt my main narrative 
to give you another and an older legend. As Mesu found it, it was 
written in the form of a diary with appendices in the way of scraps 
of correspondence ; but its links will be better understood if I take a 
little liberty with the material and present it in the following con- 
nected form." 



CHAPTER V. 



WHY THE OLDEST OBELISK STANDS. 




^ WAS noon at On, some five centuries be- 
fore the time of Mesu. Not a breath of 
wind flapped the banners falling inertly 
from the masts in front of the huge 
pylons of the temple of the sun-god Ra. 
The obelisks of Thothmes III. had not 
been reared, but the sky-piercing mono- 
lith of Osirtasen I. pointed straight upward to its 
divinity, with no shadow path leading east or west from 
its foot, though certain crouching figures blotted against its 
eastern base waited panting and fainting for a rim of shade 
to mark the first hour of the afternoon. 

The obelisk occupied an elliptical plaza bordered by a 
stone coping on which certain astrological emblems were 
sculptured. From its foot to the rim ran brazen rays forming a vast dial, on 
which the creeping shadow marked the hour. The obelisk itself was capped 
by a bronze flame which seemed to quiver upward, a perpetual burnt offering. 
This apparatus had been constructed by the priestesses of the seminary of 
Neith, the goddess of the heavens, the Urania of the Egyptian mythology. 
The wives and daughters of the priests of the sun-god were members of this 
seminary, and devoted themselves to the study of astronomy, calculating prob- 
lems and recording the equinoxes and other curious data from the mystical 
figures on the coping over which the shadow pointer passed. Some of these 
computations, chronicled upon rolls of papyrus have perished with the lost arts ; 
a few were garnered by the Magi, and carried by the Saracens into Spain, 
serving as tables by which the Arabian astronomers read the stars from the 
Giralda in Seville, — the first astronomical observatory in Europe. The observa- 



94 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



tions of the priestesses of Neith were chiefly solar, for their study was a part 
of their religious cult; and like the obelisk, everything at On pointed toward 
the sun. The pyramids of Memphis were near, and to these they sometimes 
made excursions. The chief passage in the great pyramid of Gizeh was con- 
structed at such an angle that the Pole Star could be studied from its inmost 
heart. The pyramids were devoted also to the sun, but to the sun of the under- 
world, absent during the night, and lighting as they supposed the unknown 
regions of the dead. The obelisks, on the other hand, were dedicated to the 
glad day from its rising to its setting, — " the sun at the two horizons." The 




THE SPHINX AND PYRAMIDS OF MEMPHIS. 



pyramids are on the left of the river, — the sun-set side, universally assigned to 
the necropolis and the dead. The obelisks stand upon the right side, before 
the palaces in the cities of the living. They were " representations of a pencil 
or ray of light, such as would often be seen darting vertically downward 
through the crevices of gathering clouds." 

On at this time — the reign of Apophis, the last of the Hykshos dynasty, 
— was the second capital city of the world, " famous for its temples, palaces, 
fortifications, and its ecclesiastical schools. It stood upon a lofty plateau of 
rocks and sand, surrounded by deep canals and broad lakes, bordered by 
papyrus meadows and sycamore groves," a city of fashion as well as erudition, 



WHY THE OLDEST OBELISK STANDS. 



95 



of luxury and wantonness as well as religious fanaticism. But the two worlds 

kept apart; and while the court sported in the palace pavilions, Potiphe Ra 

the high priest of the temple college — ruled his students with a severe regime, 
and the gentle priestesses of Neith were as pure as the lotus lilies in the temple 
tanks. Purest and gentlest among the train of star worshippers, was the 
daughter of the high priest. Just as the sun reached the meridian, the brazen 
gates of the seminary parted and a slender girl crossed the burning plain which 
stretched between them and the obelisk. She was dressed in the fine white 
linen of the priestly class ; her robe was knotted at the bosom and confined by 
a golden belt whose clasp represented the winged orb of the sacred sun. Her 
bare brown arms were bound with blood-red cornelian and coral armlets, and 
her perfumed hair hung in many finely braided tresses from beneath the 
Egyptian head-kerchief of silk and silver tissue. She held a measuring-reed, 
and advanced toward the obelisk to measure the almost imperceptible shadow 
rim at its foot. The figures leaning against the base of the obelisk rose respect- 
fully and made way for her as she came. They were only slaves of the captain 
of the King's body-guard, waiting while their master paid his offerings at the 
temple of Ra; but they were not unimpressible or without some innate appre- 
ciation of beauty and goodness, for the youngest among them murmured as the 
novice approached, " It is as though the staff were a stalk and she herself 
the lily." She took her measurements with downcast eyes and was returning 
silently to the seminary when the youth who had spoken toppled and fell upon 
the sand. 

" Ra be merciful ! " exclaimed one of the elder slaves ; " it is the sunstroke. 
Gracious lady, we crave of you a little water for the lad. He is from a northern 
clime, and the arrows of Ra are too strong for his weak head." The girl turned 
and cast a startled glance at the handsome youth, lying in a strange death-like 
trance at her feet, and then sped away like a frightened fawn, returning in a 
few moments with water in a crystal cup from the temple tank. They had 
drawn his head within the narrow margin of the shadow, and the girl noticed 
that it was not closely shaven like the Egyptians', but covered with rings of 
softly curling black hair. His complexion was lighter than her own, and his 
eyes — But as soon as she saw them languidly open, she fled away again more 
swiftly than before ; and this time the seminary gates did not reopen. 

For days afterward at noon the young slave exposed himself to a sec- 
ond attack of sunstroke by haunting the vicinity of the obelisk. But other 
maidens came from the gates to measure the umbra, and he spoke to none of 
them. He came not only at noon but at sunrise and sunset as well, for at these 
times also the nymphs of Neith made their observations. One afternoon as he 



96 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

lay in the shadow-path, Asnath, the daughter of the high priest, came again. 
He saw her bending over the stone circumference and transferring the hiero- 
glyphics which the shadow diameter touched to a wax tablet, and he rose 
quickly and approached until his shadow also fell across her hands. She 
started, and he drew from his tunic the crystal goblet in which she had 
brought him water, saying simply, " I have brought back the cup, O maiden 
whose name I know not, filled to the brim with the thanks of the slave boy 
Yusouf." 

" My name is Asnath, devoted to Neith," replied the girl. " The cup is my 
own, and I give it to thee. It is a divining-cup ; and by divination thou mayest 
gain gold and purchase thy freedom. I will show thee how to use it, thou 
hast but to fill it with water, and then pour into it molten lead, and from the 
shapes the metal takes thou mayest foretell love and treasure, glory or doom. 
There are certain charms too, which repeated over it will change any drink 
it may contain into a deadly poison, or a philter for gaining the love of the 
obdurate." 

The youth smiled. " Why didst thou breathe over it before thou gavest me 
to drink?" he asked archly; but seeing her offended look he added quickly, 
" Nay, it was no charm ; for Asnath is against her will beloved by all. I accept 
thy gift ; and when Yusouf is a freeman he will stand before thee again, with 
somewhat to say which he cannot now speak. Even now I am somewhat of 
a diviner, for my God hath given me power to interpret dreams and visions 
of the night." 

" Then perchance thou canst tell me the meaning of a dream which came 
to me of late," exclaimed the girl, eagerly. The short Egyptian twilight was 
fading across the red desert sands, and the stars hung like fire fruit over the 
obelisk, but Asnath had forgotten time and place. " I fell asleep beside the 
tank," she said, " and before I slept I remember watching the stars reflected in 
the still water. My dream came on so naturally that I could not tell when my 
waking moments ended. The reflection of one of the stars, as I was watching it, 
flashed and quivered, red, green, blue, and gold, floating and sinking and quiv- 
ering again to the surface of the water, till I comprehended that what I saw was 
not a reflection but a real star which had fallen into the sacred lake ; and I put out 
my hand and took it. It shone with a steady lustre like that of some great 
jewel, and I placed it in the bosom of my robe, and laid my hand over it to 
keep it safely; while I held it there the vision passed, and I slept long and 
dreamlessly. When I awakened my hand was empty, but I was filled with 
warmth and buoyancy. I felt as if I too might float away into the soft 
heavens, and glow and sparkle with the other stars upon the bosom of Neith ; 




MOSLEM AT PRAYER. 



j 



WHY THE OLDEST OBELISK STANDS. 



99 



and I understood that the star had sunk within my breast, and I am conscious 
that it is still there, I feel so light, so light!" 

The youth bent nearer. "Listen, Asnath ; I too have dreamed a dream. 
I was hunting with my long bow and a sheaf of arrows in the desert, and I fol- 
lowed a wonderful white bird, shooting arrow after arrow but never hitting it, 
for it removed a few paces onward at every shot ; and I was consumed with de- 
sire to shoot the bird, for I longed to give it as a present to thee. At the last I 




ISLAND OF PHIL.E, LOOKING OVER THE NILE. 



had but one arrow left, and I saw in my dream that the bird mounted straight 
upward ; and I knew that this was my last opportunity. But as I fitted my ar- 
row to the string I saw to my confusion that it was headless. Then befell a 
thing strange and wonderful : I thrust my hand into my bosom and plucked 
forth my heart, and with it I headed my arrow and shot it forth into the 
heavens. And the arrow changed into a shooting-star which sped through 
the sky till it stood over this obelisk, when it fell, and I saw it no more, nor the 
strange bird which I had followed. But when I awakened, lo ! there was 
a void and an emptiness in my bosom, and I comprehended that I had lost 
my heart." 

"I will keep it for thee," Asnath murmured softly; but at that moment 
the great gong within the seminary clashed harshly. It was the signal for the 
closing of the gates for the night. She darted away, and the kiss framed by 
the boy's lips fell upon the air. 

Yusouf staggered homeward, grasping tightly the precious divining-cup. As 
he crossed the threshold of his master's house the slaves gathered about the rem- 



IOO THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

nants of the evening meal looked up, and one exclaimed, " Lo, the dreamer 
cometh ! " 

Years passed, and little Asnath grew into a woman with a wistful face, 
which told of a heart that yearned and pined and was faithful. She had met 
the radiant youth but once after their dreams had led to the exchange of their 
hearts. They had agreed upon a crevice where the obelisk met its base as 
their letter-box, and here leaves of papyrus were slipped-carrying messages 
from one to the other. 

One day, however, at a public festival, when Asnath walked in pro- 
cession with the other daughters of Neith, she caught a glimpse of her hero. 
He stood beside the litter of his master's wife, — an imperious woman of the Cleo- 
patra type, with something of the passion and ferocity of the Sphinx in her 
unintellectual but beautiful face, and in her lithe, leopard-like form. The pro- 
cession had reached the temple, and the Nubians bearing the litter knelt, that 
their lady might alight. She waved her hand to Yusouf, who bore the ostrich 
fan which shielded her from the sun ; and she passed into the temple court 
leaning languidly upon his shoulder one rounded bangled arm. It was in this 
attitude that Asnath had last seen her lover. Months and years passed by, 
and he came not, and there was no word from him in the crevice beneath the 
obelisk. Each day Asnath looked within it, and found only her own last 
letter entreating him in his graphic picture language to follow his star and fly 
to her. The observations of ten years had been chronicled by the astronomer 
priestesses, and still there were no tidings. Mechanically each day Asnath re- 
corded the coming and going of the sun-god, with thoughts that wandered and 
shaped themselves into something like that hymn of Dr. Watts which is also a 
love song: — 

"In darkest shades if he appear, 
My dawning is begun ! 
He is my soul's sweet Morning Star 
And he my rising sun." 

At length a dumb despair quenched the star in Asnath's breast. She could 
see only the flushed face of that clinging, bold woman, who had carried Yusouf 
away from her, and all his pretty allegory of heart and star seemed to her but a 
lying mockery. Her life stretched before her parched and withered, and mean- 
time Nature around her had never appeared so beautiful. The rich, black Nile 
land showed the moist, sooty paste of its furrows like velvet bars across the glit- 
tering green of the satin meadows. Ra showered down his blessing of fruitful- 
ness on the steaming, teeming land. The slaves of the temple were obliged to 
build new granaries to contain the unprecedented harvest. Potiphe Ra, the 



WHY THE OLDEST OBELISK STANDS. IOI 

high priest, shook his head gravely : " There will be a drouth next year ; two 
such years of plenty have never been known to come together." But the next 
year was if possible still more remarkable. The laborers could not be induced 
to gather all, and the cattle trampled the rich grain left standing in the mead- 
ows. " We shall suffer for this wastefulness," said Potiphe Ra, pointing to a 
group of half-naked boys who were playing football with a loaf of wheaten 
bread. " The gods are generous, but they punish those who know not how to 
appreciate their gifts." 

" There ought to be public provision for hoarding the surplus of these 
years against time of need," said Asnath. 

" There is such provision," replied her father. " The Grand Vizier has 
imposed a tax upon all but our own class, and is laying up grain in a vast num- 
ber of store-houses. I know not why he has exempted the priests, for he is a 
barbarian and an infidel, — from Babylon, doubtless, or the islands across the 
seas. But he is a man of great worldly wisdom, and the reins of government 
are in his hands ; for Apophis cares not for the fatigue of ruling, and has given 
his signet ring to his Viceroy, so that whatever of law may please him is sealed 
with the cartouche of Pharaoh." 

" Apophis must have great confidence in the integrity as well as the wisdom 
of his Grand Vizier," murmured Asnath. " Osiris grant that it be not mis- 
placed." As she spoke the high priest was called suddenly away. A royal 
courier had arrived from Memphis, saying that Apophis himself was on the way 
desiring to confer with Potiphe Ra on a matter of importance. 

From the roof of the seminary Asnath watched the royal cortege sweep up 
the avenue of sphinxes to the Temple of the Sun. Her father, in his most mag- 
nificent pontificial robes, stood between the temple pylons to receive his sover- 
eign, and together they passed within the sacred arcades. The royal body- 
guard was escorted to a separate banqueting hall, and Asnath noticed that their 
captain, Yusouf 's master was served by a strange slave. " Yusouf is in Mem- 
phis," she said to herself, " with the handsome mistress of the house." Then 
it suddenly occurred to her that this fellow-slave might have brought a message 
to her from Yusouf, for he lay in the shadow of the obelisk with the rein of his 
master's horse across his arm. But the plaza was filled with grooms and horses 
and she could not go out and question him. Yusouf would have told him of the 
crevice post-box, she thought, and by and by she would look within it. In the 
cool of the evening the King and his retinue returned to Memphis and Potiphe 
Ra crossed the plaza and entered the seminary gates. Asnath thought she had 
never before seen his step so elastic, his presence so majestic, or heard his voice 
ring so jubilantly. He drew his daughter's arm within his own and led her to 



102 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

the quiet inner court. The stars had begun to appear, and Potiphe Ra pointed 
to one that was mirrored in the sacred tank. 

" A star has fallen and lies at your feet, my daughter," he said; "you have 
only to put forth your hand to possess it." 

Asnath started, — it was so like her dream. Did her father know? By 
some strange chance was Yusouf to be hers at last? But Potiphe Ra did not 
notice the girl's agitation, and proceeded to tell her that King Apophis had 
greatly honored their house by proposing for her hand in behalf of his Grand 
Vizier, Zaphnathpaneah. 

The girl's heart died within her. "But he has never seen me, my father; 
and how is it possible that he should know of my existence? " 

" It is indeed possible that he does not know of it, and that this is a plan of 
Pharaoh's to ally this too powerful foreigner more closely to the interests of 
Egypt. But, no ; I mind me that he expressly said that his favorite had 
requested this honor of him. He is said to be a mighty magician, and it is pos- 
sible that he has seen thee in some enchanted mirror, or through a spell of 
dreams, or by the ministration of Afrites." 

Asnath shuddered. " And wilt thou sell me to this hoary enchanter, O my 
father? " 

" Not against thy will, my daughter," and with a gentle touch upon her 
forehead he passed from the court. 

Asnath clasped her head with her hands. The warm night oppressed her, 
and she had need to think. She passed without the gates. The great obelisk 
pointed its silent finger upward, white and spectral in the moonlight. She 
thought again of the crevice. Yusouf had had an opportunity to communicate 
with her to-day. If he had written her a letter or even sent for hers, she would 
decline this great alliance. She reached the obelisk. A spider had hung his 
dusty curtain across the letter-box, but in spite of this she refused to believe 
herself forsaken, and cleared it away with eager fingers. Yes, there was a letter 
within. Trembling, she unrolled the strip of papyrus, — it was the one she 
had written years ago. Mechanically she rolled and replaced it. It did not 
occur to her even then to destroy it, for her love put up the same passion- 
ate cry on this night of her despair as at the beginning of her long vigil of 
doubt and desertion. But she returned to the seminary, crushed of heart 
and spirit broken, with no hope or courage with which to combat her father's 
wishes. 

A few days later and a train, still more imposing, came to bear her as a 
bride to the second palace in Egypt. " Isis grant," murmured Asnath, " that 
my husband be not enchanter enough to read my heart." 



WHY THE OLDEST OBELISK STAA r DS. 



IO3 



Confused and weary she awaited the coming of her lord in a frescoed and 
pillared pavilion overlooking the Nile. Plumy foliage plants stood in decorated 
jars ; a little Nubian, jetty black, in a tunic of turquoise blue gently waved a fan 
of ostrich feathers, luxurious divans were piled with silken cushions. In a niche 
stood a tiny altar supporting a crystal goblet holding a strange star-shaped 
white flower. But Asnath only looked at it with dazed, uncomprehending eyes. 
The incense half-stifled her with its dense smoke, the harpers harping in the 
galleries stunned her with their sweet jargoning, and she crossed her arms 
between her forehead and the gilded lattice and looked out upon the night. At 
the door below the dancing girls leapt in their spangled gauze draperies and 
showered the populace with the coins with which the steward filled their 
tambourines. They glided, they bounded, they swam ; poised on one foot with 
out-stretched, slowly waving arms; they almost flew; they whirled like mad 
dervishes ; they kissed the coins with which they pelted the applauding specta- 
tors. The novices of Neith had once danced a solemn, stately dance in the 
great temple of Karnak. It was called the Dance of the Spheres. Each novice 
had held aloft a tulip-shaped torch, and the formal figures which they traced 
were supposed to resemble the mystic procession of the stars' across the blue 
fields of Neith, slowly circling around that unknown centre, Ra's sun, — the 
Unnameable. It had been an uplifting, a soul-expanding experience ; but this 
dance of the bridal was a performance which she had never before seen, and 
could never have imagined. She closed her eyes to shut out a sudden glare of 
torch-light, and pressed her fingers to her ears to deaden the shouts which 
greeted the coming of the bridegroom. 

" He is aged and wise ; Isis grant that he be also kind of heart," she 
prayed ; and turning, she knelt facing the door, waiting with bowed head his 
approach. There was a quick glad step in the corridor without. "That is not 
the magician, the venerable Grand Vizier," thought Asnath, but she did not 
move. 

"Asnath! " 

It was Yusouf's voice, and she sprang to her feet. Yusouf and the 
enchanter viceroy were one and the same. 

Holy Writ completes the romance for us, but it does not state that after 
the birth of the boy whom Yusouf named Oblivion, because all the heart-ache 
and weariness, all the wrong and bitterness of his past were forgotten in his 
present joy, Asnath told her husband of the forgotten letter in the crevice of 
the obelisk. 

" There let it remain," replied Yusouf, " dedicating its great casket to 



io4 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



faithful waiting ; and so long as the obelisk stands, let it be a symbol that true 
hearts, though they wait long, shall not wait in vain." 

" I will add my diary and the few letters we have exchanged," said Asnath 
" that this meaning of the obelisk may be the more plainly understood by him: 
who chances to find them in later days. It is meet it should guard them for 
me, for the obelisk was my only confidant." 

Other obelisks built by later dynasties have crumbled and fallen, or have 
been removed by conquerors, nearly all the greater capitals of Europe possess- 
ing each its trophy; but the obelisk of Osirtasen I., the oldest in Egypt, still 
stands erect upon its original site, for it has a mission to perform, a truth to- 
demonstrate. 

Bird's audience was not over critical, and she received quite as 
much applause as her rendition of the story of Joseph merited. 
Another weary day's march and they encamped at Ain Hawarah, — 
the Fountain of Destruction, — a spring of bitter water supposed to be 
the Marah of the Exodus. They read the Bible account after their 
dinner: "So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea, and they went 
out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the 
wilderness and found no water. And when they came to Marah they 
could not drink of the waters of Marah for they were bitter." 

Seated beside the bitter fountain Bird continued her story of 
Moses. 




CHAPTER VI. 

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MOSES. — THE DESERT AND MOUNT SINAI. 

|ESU had finished reading this story, and he said to himself: 
" This is not. a mere romance ; it belongs in a certain way to 
history. I will verify it by comparison with the records in 
the royal library, and will incorporate it in my Book of 
Origins, weeding it of course of its silly love passages," for 
Mesu had a sovereign contempt for love, which he regarded 
as the height of human frailty. He took down his own 
manuscript, and laid his treasure-trove within one of the rolls of the Book of 
Origins. Later he transcribed it with his own hand to the roll, and there it 
remains to this day, exhaling its fragrance like a pressed flower through the 
musty leaves. 

" And Zaphnathpaneah was a Hebrew," he said to himself, adding medita- 
tively: "There is no longer any ignominy in the term. He was a great and 
good man, but did he not make a mistake? It was through his unintentional 
instrumentality that the Hebrews became the slaves of the Egyptians. Would 
that it might be my calling to rescue them ! His obelisk helped him to his 
destiny, perhaps mine will show me my duty." 

Sleep overcame him, with his head resting upon both manuscripts. When 
he woke the gong was sounding which summoned all the community to the 
grand hall. Menephtah and he were the last to enter, and were called to the 
open space before the chair of the high priest, where after a few preliminary 
remarks the fate assigned them was announced. 

The two students received the news with very different mien. 

" It is well," said Mesu. " Hebrew slaves toiled at the cutting of these 

obelisks in the far quarries of Syene ; Hebrew slaves guided the overburdened 

craft that floated them down the treacherous Nile ; Hebrew slaves performed 

the dangerous duty of elevating them to a perpendicular position. If I am of 



io6 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 




HEAD-DRESS OF EGYPTIAN GIRL. 



the blood of the Hebrews, as Menephtah has said, it is but of a piece with this 
strange kind of justice that I should finish the work of sculpturing between 
earth and heaven the panegyrics of the tyrant who has commanded this last 
murder." 

This rank treason was allowed to pass unpunished. A more awful punish- 
ment than they could inflict, so his superiors thought, awaited Mesu at the foot of 



IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MOSES. 



IO7 



the obelisk. Menephtah, in the opinion of the faculty, showed a more becoming 
behavior. He simply fainted in the extreme of mortal terror. On his recovery 
he sent a courier post haste to Rameses. 

" My father will not allow the priests to assert authority of life and death 
over his royal house," he cried. " He will not suffer my sister's slave to wreak 
his revenge upon me." 

" How is that? " asked his fellow-students. " Mesu cannot injure you with- 
out first killing himself." 

" That would be nothing to Mesu," replied Menephtah ; " do you suppose he 
would regard his own life of the slightest consequence if he knew that his death 
would involve the destruction of his enemy?" 

Menephtah's estimate of Mesu's character was not far wrong; but at present 
the cowardly prince was as nothing to Mesu, who had quite forgotten their 
quarrel in this the first conscious crisis of his life. An answer came to 
Menephtah's appeal to his father, but it gave him scant comfort. He wrote : 

" I will not revoke the decrees of the University, nor assign to its students a duty 
which I am unwilling that my own son should perform. It is an ordeal fit for a king. I 
have followed thy career, and have marked thy character too refined and delicate. I have 
filled in my breathing places between battles with architecture and art, and I honor the 
skilled artist. I could wish that the king who succeeds me should perfect the works 
which I have instituted, and carry to a glorious height the renaissance of Egyptian art. 
But other qualities are also necessary for a ruler. He who sits upon the throne of the 
Pharaohs must have a clear head ; and if thy brain is steady enough not to reel at the 
height of the obelisk, I can be sure that it will not turn giddy on any pinnacle of this 
world's greatness. If thou canst behold Ra with undazzled eye so near to his majestic 
glory, thou provest thyself a son of Ra not to be dazzled by splendor ! If thy hand fail 
not, then shall men believe thee as fit to hold the sceptre as the chisel. If thou livest 
after the graving of these obelisks, then shalt thou in preference of thy thirteen older 
brothers reign after me. 

"I, Rameses, have said it." 

If this letter of the King may be thought to show a remarkable subordina- 
tion of paternal instinct to cool philosophy, we can only say that Rameses 
was well aware if his experiment proved a failure and the young prince 
was killed that there would be still no lack of heirs-apparent to the throne of 
Egypt, and the one hundred and nineteenth part of any father's love and solici- 
tude can scarcely be suspected of being overwhelming. 

Meantime the two obelisks were caged by light scaffolding. The workmen 
who erected them understood that the King's son might peril his life here, and 



108 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

if he fell through any fault of theirs, their life must answer for his ; and so the 
skeleton mechanism grew firm as a ladder of twisted steel. The inscription to 
be graven, composed by the court poet, Pentaur, was placed in Mesu's hand, 
with a chisel carefully tempered and sharpened, the gift of the Hebrew smiths 
working at Karnak. It was with this chisel that the tables of stone were hewn 
out, upon which the law was traced on Sinai, and it was long and carefully 
preserved by after ages, there being a tradition that with it Jael smote Sisera. 

Slowly Mesu was hoisted to his place, his swinging chair affixed to pulleys 
which allowed of his being lowered one degree as each group of hieroglyphs 
was completed. Slowly and distinctly the characters grew ; and those straining 
eyes below could read with the help of crystal globes each detail of the char- 
acters which, mutilated and corroded as they are, are still legible upon each of 
the obelisks, — a panegyric to the sun and to Rameses, — 

" Whose royalty is expanded 
Like that of the sun, 

" Giving all life, stability, and happiness 
Like the sun forever. 

" A noble youth of kindness, 
Like the sun 
Blazing from the horizon, 

" Who throws down southern peoples 
As far as the Indian Ocean, 
And the northern peoples 
As far as the prop of the sky." 

Trifling compliment and adulation this to the grand words upon the 
" tables of stones written with the finger of God " which Mesu was afterward to 
receive. Among the crowd who watched him swaying perilously at his task 
were many Hebrew slaves, and Mesu hoped that they might understand that he 
was lifted up for them ; but they did not comprehend. Again and again the 
swinging chair descended to the ground in safety, and the last line of the 
second obelisk was reached. Menephtah was in an agony of hope and fear. 
What if Mesu accomplished the whole task safely; what if the presumptuous 
wretch failed to die, and gave him no share whatever in the work? Would not 
his father's assurance of the succession pass then to Mesu? He scanned the letter 
again : Rameses had made no mention of the name of his foster-grandchild ; if 
Menephtah survived the task (presumably no matter who did it) he was the 
acknowledged heir-apparent. The word of a Pharaoh could not be broken. 



IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MOSES. 



IO9 



Menephtah threw himself on the sand and hid his face in his arms ; he could not 
watch the cutting of the last hieroglyphs. A sudden cheering rent the air. He 
leaped to his feet, — the characters were sculptured; the ordeal was over. 
He could have thrown himself upon Mesu's neck, but the youth was gone. 

The years passed on. Mesu was almost forgotten. The Princess Meris 
alone of all the court mourned for him. What if he had killed an Egyptian 
soldier in a quarrel? Her influence might have saved him if he had come to her 
instead of becoming a fugitive and an outcast. Her woman's heart was grieved 
by his want of confidence ; it seemed to her to imply a lack of gratitude. It 
was quite true; Mesu was not grateful. He had abandoned his patrons and 
schooled himself to forget their kindnesses. It was not hard to do so after the 
experience of the obelisk. He had cancelled his debt to Rameses ; henceforth 
he was only a Hebrew of the Hebrews with one grand aim, one object in life. 

Rameses died and was mummied, and Menephtah, his weakest, most vacilla- 
ting and characterless son reigned in his stead. He carried out his father's 
wishes in regard to the renaissance of Egyptian art, as the grand Hypostyle 
Hall, the climax of the temple of Karnak, the ruins of his palace at Thebes, and 
his tomb in the Valley of the Kings fully testify ; but it was at the expense of 
the tears and blood of uncounted Hebrew slaves. 

At last the deliverer came. We cannot tell whether Menephtah recognized 
in the hoary magician who tormented him, his fellow-student of early days. 
Mesu has himself chronicled the long struggle, the royal word broken again 
and again. " My slaves are as much my property," said the haughty king, "as 
my temples and my obelisks. As soon shall the reverend obelisks before the 
university of On remove from their place as this people depart from serving 
me. 

The two impossibilities have been effected, " When after the terrible last 
tenth plague the mixed multitude were driven forth from Egypt, the light of the 
pillar of fire threw the shadow of the obelisks across the path of the fugitives." 

The monoliths of Thothmes III., moved first to Alexandria by Augustus 
Caesar, have since parted company, and voyaged widely from their university 
site, and from each other. One stands in London, where a descendant of the 
Hebrew slaves, who quarried and first reared it, has ruled for years, almost as 
a king; the other has come to our own land, and stands a monument to the 
life and work of Mesu, the uplifting of a race. 1 

1 The Author published these romances of the obelisk some years ago in, " Good Company," a 
magazine which has since gone out of existence. She believes that they are now out of print, and that 
few of her young readers have ever seen them. 



HO THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

Bird ceased; there were traces of stronger emotion on her face 
than could be accounted for by the excitement natural to a young 
author in reading her own productions. None knew the secret bond 
of sympathy which attracted her to Mesu, but all felt touched by 
the magnetism of an intense feeling whose springs they could not 
fathom. 

Mrs. Remington, to introduce a calming influence, asked that each 
should repeat verses from some hymn relating to the Exodus; and 
Frank gave as his favorite, " When Israel of the Lord beloved." 

Bird listened with shaded eyes as his clear voice expressed his 
steadfast faith in the noble words of the hymn, — 

" When Israel of the Lord beloved, 
Out from the land of bondage came 
Her father's God before her moved, 
An awful guide in smoke and flame. 

" By day along the astonished lands 
The cloudy pillar glided slow ; 
By night Arabia's crimsoned sands 
Returned the fiery column's glow. 

" Thus present still, though now unseen 

When brightly shines the prosperous day, 
Be thoughts of thee a cloudy screen 
To temper the deceitful ray. 

" And oh ! when gathers on our path 

In shade and storm the frequent night, 
Be thou, long suffering, slow to wrath, 
A burning and a shining light." 

The next day they had a long and rather tiresome journey before 
encamping at night in the beautiful Wady Tayabeh. If the ladies 
had not become somewhat accustomed to the gait of the camels they 
could not have endured it. As it was, the four different jerks which 
the camel gives its rider when rising from its knees were sufficiently 



IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MOSES. 1 1 1 

dislocating, and the long swinging stride made Mrs. Remington a 
little dizzy. Finding that she was afraid of her beast because he had 
viciously snapped at her bonnet and had bitten off an aigrette, Frank 
had her change with him. 

" You must not increase Mother's nervousness by telling her this 
story," he said to Violet, " but camels are really very revengeful and 
bad tempered. Palgrave relates that a camel who had been ill-treated 
by a boy seized him by the head and threw him on the ground with 
the upper part of his head torn off. Then, having satisfied himself 
that he had killed his persecutor, he trudged along as though nothing 
had happened." 

That evening Violet pointed out a cloudy pillar behind them, which 
Mohammed said was smoke from the camp-fire of the two Englishmen 
who were encamped in a neighboring wady. 

Early the next morning, before resuming their march they walked 
through a picturesque valley walled in with cliffs whose coloring 
rivalled that of the canon of the Yellowstone to the Gulf and enjoyed 
a bath in the salt water, for they were near the sea-shore. 

As they returned they met Captain Blakeslee who, led by a young 
Bedouin, was evidently on the same errand, for a Turkish bath-towel 
was draped over his helmet in the fashion of an Egyptian scarf as an 
additional protection from the sun. In his surprise at recognizing the 
party he forgot his novel head-gear, and his endeavor to look dignified 
and unconscious was extremely amusing. As Violet passed him last 
in the little procession, she could not restrain a smile. Instantly his 
hand came up with a stiff military salute and then fumbled in his 
pocket. 

" Beg pardon," he exclaimed, "but your vinaigrette — I thought I 
had it with me. No, of course not." Then as a stray gust of wind 
flapped the towel fringe in his face and he realized his absurd appear- 
ance and turned abruptly on his heel, Violet bit her refractory lips 



112 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

in punishment for their thoughtless smile. She turned and looked 
kindly after Captain Blakeslee, but he was striding wrathfully over 
the sand, spitefully switching the towel which he had snatched from 
his helmet. 

Their next interesting halt was in the Wady Mokatteb, with its 
Sinaitic inscriptions on the rock of strange figures and characters 
which have been a puzzle to learned men ever since their discovery. 

As usual, Emma made a great many copies ; but she was obliged to 
acknowledge herself baffled in her attempts to extract any meaning 
from them. Egyptian hieroglyphics had interested her greatly, and she 
announced her intention of making a serious study of them. 

The significance of Egyptian picture-writing has been well ex- 
plained by Mr. Gliddon in the following example : — 

" In Egyptian hieroglyphics there are in some instances as many as twenty- 
five different characters used to represent one letter. The writer could, by the 
selection of his letters convey a meaning of admiration and praise, or disgust 
and hatred. I will endeavor to make this apparent by an example. Suppose 
we wished to adopt the same system in our language, and write the word 
' America ' in hieroglyphics. 

" A. We might select out of many more or less appropriate symbols for the 
letter a, as an asp, apple, altar, etc., the asp, symbolic of sovereignty. 

" M. For in we have a mace, moon, mummy, mouse, etc. I select the mace, 
indicative of military dominion. 

" E. An ear, egg, eagle, elk. The eagle is undoubtedly the most appro- 
priate, being the ' national arms of the Union,' and means ' courage.' 

" R. A rabbit, ram, ring, rope. I take the ram, emblematic of ' frontal 
power,' intellect, and sacred to Amun. 

" /. An insect, infant, ivy. An infant will typify ' the juvenile age,' and still 
undeveloped strength of this great country. 

" C. A cake, cat, cone, crescent. I choose the cake, the consecrated bread, 
typical of a ' civilized region.' 

"A. Any of the above words beginning with a would answer, but I take the 
sacred ' Ian', the symbol of eternal life, which in the Egyptian alphabet is 
an A. 



IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MOSES. II 3 

To designate that by this combination of symbols we mean a country, I 
add the Coptic sign Kah, meaning country. 
We thus obtain phonetically, — 

A ME R I C A 

COUNTRY: 



The journey from this point on began to grow wearisome. The 
commissary department was no longer unexceptional, and they wearied 
of canned edibles. Even the oranges, which had been their most 
refreshing dessert, were baked and juiceless. The long strain of camel 
riding began to tell upon Mrs. Remington, and a light sand-storm 
completed their discomfiture. The thick veils which they were 
obliged to wear gave them all headache, and before they reached their 
evening camping-place on the seventh day of their pilgrimage, Mrs. 
Remington fainted from sheer exhaustion, and fell from her camel. 
She might have been seriously injured if Mohammed had not noticed 
her swaying and caught her in his arms. 

Here was trouble. A litter was extemporized with tent poles and 
blankets, and after Mrs. Remington had revived she was placed in it 
and carried on to the Wady Feiran, at the foot of Mt. Serbal, where 
they intended to camp among the ruins of an ancient convent. But 
the most desirable site had been already selected and occupied by an- 
other party, and Mohammed halted his company on the hillside among 
some ancient tombs. It was a doleful spot, with still more doleful 
suggestions. The caravan below them not only had the shelter of the 
old convent walls, but a delightful little grove of tamarisks and date- 
palms, with a fresh fountain and brook. Their own situation was 
exposed to sun and wind. Mrs. Remington had lapsed from one 



114 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

fainting fit into another. Mr. Remington was frantic with anxiety, 
Violet in tears, and Frank seriously perplexed. In this complicated 
state of affairs Bird sought counsel of Mohammed, who was scolding 
his men. / 

"We must hav^" help. Does no one live among those ruins?" 
Bird asked. 

" Only a few beasts of Arabs," Mohammed replied. 

" Are those travellers encamped in the ruins of the convent the 
ones who wished to journey with us ? " 

Mohammed nodded. 

" And one of them is a doctor ? " 

Again the respectful inclination of the head. 

" Then come with me. I am going to ask him to see Mrs. 
Remington." 

Mohammed made no demur. Indeed this course had already sug- 
gested itself to him, but he somewhat dreaded his master's' disapproval ; 
and as he had many matters to oversee, he called to a Bedouin boy of 
the tribe of the Aulad Said, who had been hanging about the camp 
with his donkey trying to sell some jars of sour goat's milk, and bade him 
show the lady the shortest way to the encampment of the Englishmen. 

The sun had set hours before, but the stars were shining clearly. 
It was a wonderful night, and for some time Bird was so absorbed in 
tracing the constellations that she paid no attention to the way in 
which her little guide was leading her. She came back from her star- 
gazing with a start, to realize that they must have made one or two 
turns in the ravine, for neither encampments were in sight. She 
called to her elfin guide to stop, but he only gesticulated wildly, and 
skipped on over the rocks. She stood still, and he came back and 
chattered in his strange gibberish, pointing to slender threads of 
smoke which rose beyond a thicket. Bird comprehended that he was 
leading her to the village of his tribe, whether because he had mis- 
taken Mohammed's orders or from sinister motives Bird could not 



IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MOSES. 



"5 



determine. Of one thing she was quite certain, — she had no desire to 
adventure herself alone, and without the knowledge of her friends, 
among a tribe of Bedouins who might retain her indefinitely for ran- 
som. She turned and walked resolutely back, the boy dogging 
her steps and protesting violently. Seeing thai? he made no impres- 




ANCIENT EGYPTIAN RUINS IN THE DESERT. 



sion upon her, he finally turned and ran away in the direction of his 
own encampment. Bird regretted that she had not paid more atten- 
tion at the outset to the way in which she had come. The sides of the 
ravine were seamed with goat-paths. It was impossible to tell by 
which she had descended. She hurried on, growing more and more 
bewildered. She became convinced that she must have taken the 
wrong one, for she could see no trace of either the camp of her friends 
or of the Englishmen. She climbed the side of the cliff, hoping to 
gain a more extended view, and seeing some ruins which she thought 
might be those of the convent, she hurried toward them. On nearer 



Il6 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

approach they appeared to be tombs. She wandered among them for 
a long time, their dark shadows and fallen masses of stone startling 
her, from their resemblance to uncouth, crouching figures. At length,, 
wearied and disheartened by her fruitless efforts, convinced that she 
must wait until morning light to find her way out of the labyrinth,, 
she sat down in an angle and waited. Brave girl as she was, her lonely,, 
defenceless condition struck her with grave apprehension. She dared 
not fall asleep, and she watched the declining moon with a dread of 
the utter darkness which would settle upon her when it disappeared. 

She wondered whether her friends had discovered her absence 
and were anxious about her. Suddenly she fancied that she heard 
voices and footsteps. Were they her friends or the Arabs. While 
she hesitated whether to cry aloud, suddenly an animal slunk from a. 
yawning door and trotted leisurely toward her. Was it a wolf, a 
hyena, or a jackal ? She stood for a moment transfixed with fright, 
and then turned and ran. One glance over her shoulder showed to 
her horror that the creature was bounding after her. She uttered a 
shriek, redoubled her speed, stumbled, and fell. In an instant she 
heard the quick panting of the animal above her. She did not faint, 
but nerving herself for what she imagined was to be a death-struggle, 
sprang to a sitting posture and found herself face to face with a hand- 
some Irish setter. It capered about her in a friendly and joyful man- 
ner, dashed off, and then returned with quick, short barks. 

" I can understand your language better than Arabic, you beauty," 
Bird said, patting his head affectionately. " You doubtless belong to 
Captain Blakeslee, and you want to lead me to your master — forward,, 
march ! " 

The dog led the way, and after a few turns through the ruins Bird 
saw three figures striding rapidly down the valley in the direction of 
the encampment of the Aulad Said. One was dressed like an Arab, 
but the other two were Americans or Englishmen ; and Bird called 
aloud and ran after them, the dog barking with all his might. The 



IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MOSES. 



117 



men stopped, and in a moment Bird recognized Frank, who darted 
back toward her exclaiming : " Bird is it really you ? I am so thank- 
ful ! I have been nearly crazy." 

He held her hand tightly and kept it in his own after the others 
joined them. 

" This is Captain Blakeslee," he exclaimed. " Mohammed told me 
that you had gone for the doctor, and when you did not return we 
went across to their camp and were consumed with anxiety when we 
found that you had not been there. Mohammed suspected some 
treachery on the part of the Arab boy who guided you, and Captain 
Blakeslee was good enough to offer to go with us to the camp of the 
Aulad Said." 

" I am glad that you found me before charging them with my 
capture," Bird replied. 

"Yes," assented the young Englishman; " it might have caused a 
rather nasty misunderstanding, and the beggars seem to be well 
enough disposed." 

Frank expressed his acknowledgments of the Captain's kindness 
and they left him, following Mohammed, who strode along in advance 
of them, selecting the right pathway from the net-work of goat tracks 
with the unerring instinct of his race. 

" Did the doctor go to your mother ? " Bird asked. 

" Yes ; he set out for our camp when the Captain joined me in my 
search for you." 

" Do you think she will see him ? " 

" Yes ; for strange as it is, this English physician turns out to be 
old Dr. Trotter who has cared for our family ever since we were 
babies. How it ever happened that we did not ascertain this before, 
I cannot tell ; but everything will doubtless be explained in good time. 
And Bird, my darling, I am so glad and thankful that I have found 
you that I care for nothing else." 

Bird trembled. " You must not speak so," she said. 



Il8 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

" Why not ? I have loved you for a long time — have you not 
guessed it? — but how much I did not know until I thought that I 
had lost you. Tell me, Bird, that you care for me too." • 

" I cannot," Bird replied, in deep trouble. " I cannot." 

" You do not love me ? It is not your fault, I suppose, but God 
help me ! I thought you did." 

There was such pain in his voice that Bird was inexpressibly 
moved. " I do care for you, Frank," she said impulsively ; " but some- 
times there are other questions which demand consideration, — other 
people who are concerned." 

" My people all love you," Frank persisted. 

Bird was on the point of saying, " They would not if they knew 
everything," but she held back the words. 

" You must mean your people," Frank continued. " Well, we 
won't call it an engagement until I have made them approve of me. 
I think I can win them over if you will help me," he added cheerfully. 

" No, you cannot," Bird replied gloomily. " I wish I had not told 
you that I care for you, for it can never come to anything. We must 
fight against it ; and I daresay we will both be able to forget all about 
it." 

" No, we cannot forget now," Frank replied confidently. " The 
words have been said, and I have a feeling that all will be right. If 
you wish, I will say no more about it until I have your parents' per- 
mission to do so." 

" That at least you must promise," Bird replied ; " and remember 
I have promised you nothing. Indeed I do not see how this can end 
happily, and I want you in looking back to be able to respect me and 
to realize that I did not encourage you with false hopes." 

" I shall remember that you were a most discouraging little pessi- 
mist and that I took no stock at all in your gloomy views, and we shall 
see which will be right." 

" And now if you will kindly remove your hand from my waist, 



IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MOSES. 



IIQ 



and never, never by word or look refer to this evening's conversation 
while I am with you, I shall be greatly obliged." 

" I promise ; but it will be hard work, I assure you." 

They had reached the camp, and Violet who was waiting anxiously 
nearly smothered Bird with kisses. " You poor dear, what a frightful 
experience you have had ! " she murmured. 

" Yes, frightful," Frank replied mischievously ; " the half cannot be 
told. How is mother ? " 

" She was lying with closed eyes when Dr. Trotter arrived, but on 
hearing his voice she exclaimed : " Now I shall get well. How good 
of you to come all the way from Spuyten Dyvil to attend me." 

The Doctor smiled, but it was not until he had given Mrs. 
Remington's illness the care which it demanded, that he said to Mr. 
Remington : " I feel positive that you cannot have received the letter 
I wrote you in Cairo. I knew something must have gone wrong 
when your dragoman told me that you hesitated about allowing my 
nephew and myself to join your party." 

" Your letter ! What letter ? Are you the Englishman ? But 
Mohammed said it was a Dr. Marcher" were some of the exclama- 
tions which greeted this remark. 

" My letter announcing that I had just arrived in Cairo and 
had picked up my wife's English nephew for a little jaunt across 
the desert must have miscarried," replied Dr. Trotter ; " as to my 
name — " 

" Oh, that is very plain !" Frank exclaimed. " Mohammed forgot 
the exact word but kept its meaning. Well, this is a joke!" 

Apologies were made on both sides, and on the next day Captain 
Blakeslee called with the Doctor and was duly presented. 

Mrs. Remington's malady was pronounced to be simply exhaus- 
tion. A more favorable spot was selected for the camp in a pleasant 
grove near the ruined convent, and it was decided that she should 
remain quiet for a few days under Dr. Trotter's care while the rest 



120 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 




WELLS IN THE DESERT. 



of the party continued their march to Sinai. The physician was posi- 
tive that she would be sufficiently rested to make the return journey 



to Suez with them. 



IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MOSES. 121 

Violet insisted on remaining with her mother; and Captain 
Blakeslee protested against going on to Sinai in advance of the Doc- 
tor. He much preferred remaining with him and studying the habits of 
the Aulad Said at the other end of the wady, who he felt sure were 
descendants of the ancient Amalekites, to waiting for the Doctor at 
the Convent of St. Catharine. They had set out prepared for the 
long journey to Palestine by way of Petra, and a delay of a few days 
was of no consequence. Their own cook could cater for Mrs. and 
Miss Remington, and only one of the servants attached to the Reming- 
ton caravan need remain. All this hospitality and kindness on the part 
of Doctor Trotter seemed like heaping coals of fire on the head of Mrs. 
Remington, and she could only show her regret for her former mis- 
understanding by marked courtesy both to him and to his nephew, — 
a courtesy which the young man appreciated highly, devoting him- 
self most assiduously to the comfort and entertainment of the ladies 
during the five days which they spent together, and entirely forgetting 
his resolution to study the manners and customs of the Aulad Said 
and to write an essay on the Amalekites for an ethnological journal, 
until Violet reminded him of it. 

In the mean time the rest of the party continued on their journey. 

Their last encampment before reaching Sinai was made at the foot 
of the Nugb Hawa, or Pass of the Wind, among the wild, desolate 
mountains of the Sinaitic range. 

The next morning Bird, who was used to climbing, and whose 
alpenstock was marked with many ascensions rarely attempted by 
ladies, set out on foot with Frank for the summit of the pass. The 
sublime and lonely scenery reminded them both of the Pass of St. 
Gotthard, while the realization of its more complete isolation gave 
them a sense of awe such as they had never before experienced. This 
feeling reached its climax when the view of Mount Sinai itself burst 
upon them in all its terrible majesty. At its foot stood the fortress- 
like convent of St. Catharine, below which spread the vast Wady Er 



122 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

Rahah, or Valley of Rest. Mount Sinai itself has two peaks,— Jebel 
Musa, the traditional spot of the giving of the law, and Ras Suf- 
safeh, which modern authorities consider the true Mount of God. 
Dr. Philip Schaff says, — 

" I fully satisfied my mind that Ras Sufsafeh is the platform from which the 
Law was proclaimed. Here all the conditions required by the Scripture narra- 
tive are combined ; for Er Rahah is a smooth and gigantic camping-ground 
protected by surrounding mountains, and contains two millions of square yards, 
so that the whole people of Israel could find ample room and plainly see and 
hear the Man of God on the rocky pulpit above. Dean Stanley relates that 
< from the highest point of Ras Sufsafeh to its lower peak, a distance of about 
sixty feet, the page of a book distinctly but not loudly read, was perfectly au- 
dible; and every remark of the various groups of travellers rose clearly to those 
immediately above them.' " 

Both Bird and Frank were profoundly impressed by the scene. 
They talked very seriously while they rested. 

" I believe it," Bird said, — " I believe it all most profoundly. The 
sublimity of the place is so perfectly fitted to the sublimity of the 
event." 

" Have you ever reflected," Frank asked, " that Moses' life and 
death seems to have been intimately connected with mountains? 
They must have had the greater influence upon him from his early 
associations with a flat country. He owed much, as you have showed 
us, to his education at the university of On ; but he had a nobler uni- 
versity education of forty years in the desert and among the mountains 
of the Sinai range, which fitted him for his great life work. It was 
here that he brought the people at the beginning of their pilgrimage, 
and on those soaring heights that he was uplifted to that long, inti- 
mate communion with God. They encamped here for a year. Then' came 
the desert march again, the descent to earthly cares, heavy responsi- 
bilities, and petty annoyances, until at length he was privileged to 
ascend another mountain height— Mount Nebo, -to view the good land 



IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MOSES. 1 23 

to which he had brought his people, and to pass from this stepping- 
stone up to his Father's house." 

" I am not fond of hymns or religious poetry," Bird replied, " but 
there is one poem on the death of Moses that I learned by heart long 
ago, attracted by its beauty, but I never realized its truth until now; " 
and the young girl repeated gravely, — 

" On Nebo's lonely mountain 
Beyond the Jordan's wave, 
In a vale in the land of Moab, 
There is a lonely grave. 
And no man dug the sepulchre, 
And no man saw it e'er ; 
For the angel of God upturned the sod, 
And laid the good man there. 

" And had he not high honor? 

The hillside for his pall, 
To lie in state, while angels wait 

With stars for tapers tall ; 
And the dark rock-pines, like tossing plumes 

Over his bier to wave ; 
And God's own hand, in that lonely land, 

To lay him in the grave." 

" That is grand," Frank replied. " I mean to make a special study 
of mountains while in Palestine. It will be even more sacred to visit 
those connected with the life of Christ." 

Bird did not reply, but her very silence was unsympathetic, and 
Frank persisted. " You did not care greatly for the history of Moses, 
I remember, until we made this trip ; and I believe that following in 
the footsteps of Jesus will have a still more powerful effect upon you. 
We will love him all the more from studying his life together." 

" I do not like to pain you, Frank," Bird replied, " but I ought to 
tell you that I am not a Christian, that I do not look upon the char- 
acter of Jesus as you do." 

" I know it," he replied ; " but I look forward to the pilgrimages 
which we shall make together in Palestine to bring us both into a 



124 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

truer knowledge of his life and mission. I am sure that we shall 
understand him and each other better after talking about him by 
the way." 

Nothing more was said on the subject at this time. Night over- 
took them before they reached the foot of the pass where they were to 
encamp, and where the caravan was awaiting them, having gone round 
the mountain over which they had climbed. The next morning they 
visited the convent of St. Catharine, which is dedicated to the favorite 
saint of the Greek Church. After her martyrdom, the legend relates 
that angels bore her body through the air and buried it on the top of 
the Jebel Catharine. Many travellers find in this mountain a resem- 
blance to a beheaded corpse. 

Formerly the convent was more of a fortress than at present, and 
guests were drawn up in a basket to a window at the top of the wall ; 
but at present the monastery is under the protection of a tribe of 
Arabs, and it has nothing to fear from the incursions of wandering 
tribes. It possesses farms, orchards, and gardens, and is itself a laby- 
rinth of many incongruous buildings built around courts. Besides the 
hospice, with its reception hall and rooms for travellers, there is a 
library, a Byzantine Church, various chapels, some catacombs, with a 
horrible array of skeletons of dead monks, the refectory and dormitories 
of the monks, and a little mosque for their Arab dependents and 
guardians. There is a legend that Mahomet himself founded this 
mosque ; and the monks show a letter in which he bids his adherents 
protect the convent. 

Emma and Bird were shown more of the convent than is usually 
permitted to American ladies. A party of noble Russian ladies were 
encamped before the monastery walls. They had arrived the day 
before, and were under the care of an abbess of high repute. A Rus- 
sian princess courteously visited the American camp, explained that 
they were to be shown the convent the next day, and invited the 
girls to accompany them. The convent chapel is one of the oldest 



IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MOSES. 



125 



and richest of churches, and is decorated in the Byzantine style with 
inlay of precious woods and stones, while it is loaded with the votive 
offerings of emperors and princes. 

The travellers were shown a magnificent sarcophagus, the gift of 
the Czar of Russia, which is said to contain the relics of St. Catharine, 
removed from the top of the mountain by the monks. 




CHRISTIAN AND MAHOMETAN CHAPELS ON MOUNT SINAI. 



The chief fame of the library is founded on the fact that here was 
discovered the Codex Sinaiticus, — the most complete and ancient 
copy of the Bible, written on parchment in Greek, and dating from 
the middle of the fourth century. 

The learned scholar Dr. Tischendorf found this treasure, of whose 
existence the monks were ignorant, and secured it for the Czar of 
Russia. It is now in the Imperial Library of St. Petersburg. 

The monks call the transaction a theft, though Dr. Tischendorf has 
letters from the Archbishop proving that it was a gift to the Czar, and 
that its value to the monks was fully returned by many princely presents. 

Another day was devoted to a climb to the summit of Mount 



126 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

Sinai, where they found two chapels, one Mahometan and the other 
Christian. The Arab legend relates that when Mahomet rode on the 
sacred camel to Ararat and back in one night, he rested in passing on 
Sinai; and his namesake, their dragoman, pointed out to them the 
mark of the sacred camel's foot. There was a grand view from the 
summit, stretching away to the Gulf of Akabah. They rested on their 
descent at the little chapel of Elijah, supposed to be erected in front of 
the cave which Elijah occupied when he fled from Ahab and Jezebel. 

It was all a most interesting region, and they felt fully repaid for 
the hardships of their pilgrimage and sorry that Mrs. Remington and 
Violet were obliged to omit the last stage of the journey. 

Mr. Remington bought hampers of fresh fruits and vegetables of 
the monks for their return march, — figs and dates and almonds from 
the gardens which the monks cultivate in the ravines, and which their 
Arab protectors rob most ruthlessly, — and they turned their faces 
once more toward the Wady Feiran. 

Emma need not have commiserated Violet. She had found her 
halt in the beautiful valley a very delightful one. Captain Blakeslee 
had with him a copy of Eber's " Homo Sum." Violet read it aloud to 
her mother, and one morning she took a long walk to the ruined city 
of Pharan, described in the book, which was situated just at the foot of 
Mount Serbal. The Egyptian mines of Serabit el Khadem were not 
far from them, and Captain Blakeslee gave a most interesting account 
of his explorations among them. He was a scholarly man, and he was 
making the tour in the interest of science and not as an idle holiday 
jaunt. He found in Violet an appreciative listener, and he unfolded 
all his plans and theories to her. It was this fertile valley of Feiran, 
he believed, that the Amalekites inhabited, and which they attempted 
to defend from the approaching horde of Israelites by the battle of 
Rephidim, described in the seventeenth chapter of Exodus. One day 
they paid a visit to the encampment of the Aulad Said, rested in one 
of their strange black tents, and were refreshed with goat's milk. 



IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MOSES. I 27 

Captain Blakeslee bought some trinkets of the women, among others' 
a silver bangle from which depended four uncut stones, — a turquoise, 
a ruby, a cat's-eye, an emerald, and a tiny corroded coin engraved, so 
the woman said, with the intertwined triangles which formed the 
design on the seal of Solomon, with which he commanded the genii. 
All of these objects the old crone said were amulets of power. The 
coin could be made to command the genii to bring him wealth, if one 
only knew the magic spell to mutter ; the cat's-eye was proof against 
the assassin and the dangers of the night ; the emerald would protect 
the traveller on the sea; the ruby would keep him in good health as 
long as it was worn ; and the turquoise while it retained its deep color 
would assure him of the fidelity of the one he loved most. 

As they walked back the Captain slipped the bangle on Violet's 
wrist. " I am sure," he said, " that I wish you all the good fortune 
which it is supposed to insure." 

" We will divide them," Violet said; "the stones are only fastened 
to the bangle with silver wires which we can easily untwist. It is not 
fair that I should have all the amulets and you none. Which would 
you like best ? " 

" I think I would prefer Solomon's signet," he replied. " Perhaps 
I can discover the right incantation to use with it, and the genii will 
bring me knowledge and wealth." 

" Then as you are to travel among fierce and stealthy bandits you 
must take the cat's-eye, which will be awake all night and keep you safe 
from the murderous dagger. As I am to travel by sea I will keep the 
emerald, and the ruby I will fasten to mother's watch-chain. We will 
see whether it will keep her in good health. The turquoise you must 
take, for I have no lover of whose fidelity I care to know." 

" Nor is there any lady whose coquetries would at all disturb my 
peace of mind. So keep the turquoise to make the division equal ; but 
if it loses color do not believe that it is a sign that my friendship is 
fickle, for I hope to meet you at Jerusalem a month from this 



I2 8 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

time, and that we can then find some means of continuing our 
acquaintanceship." 

The dangers to which Violet referred were of a very real char- 
acter, for Captain . Blakeslee and Dr. Trotter were about to visit 
Petra, — that wonderful, uninhabited city of classical architecture, — 
which has been the puzzle of the ages ; and Petra is in the possession 
of an unfriendly and treacherous tribe of Bedouins, very loath to allow 
travellers to spend more than a few hours in examining its ruins, lest 
they might carry away with them buried treasure. Captain Blakeslee 
wished to remain on the spot for several days, making plans and tak- 
ing photographs, and the undertaking was likely to be a perilous one. 
He had promised to find Violet at Jerusalem and to give her an 
account of his explorations. He had passed through many interest- 
ing experiences and related them in an entertaining way, Both Mrs. 
Remington and Violet enjoyed hearing him. Mrs. Remington re- 
ceived the little ruby graciously, and promised to wear it. 

The day before the return of their friends from Mount Sinai, a 
swarm of flies entered the valley and caused them all great annoyance. 

" They are not quite so bad as the plague which was brought upon 
the Egyptians," Mrs. Remington said ; " I fancy that such a plague 
will never be visited even upon Egypt in modern times." 

" I have heard of one," Captain Blakeslee replied. " A friend and 
comrade of mine was on the battle-field of Tel-el-Kebir on the day 
after the battle there in 1882, and he told me a hideous story of a 
plague of flies which settled down over the field that parallels the 
account in Exodus. The Egyptian troops had neglected to bury the 
dead, our troops did not attend to the matter, and the dead Egyptians 
lay where they had fallen. My friend afterward wrote an account of 
his experience which was published in the ' St. James Gazette.' I 
copied in it my note-book as a most graphic account of a horrible 
phenomenon and will read it to you if you wish." 



IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MOSES. 



129 



" Long before I got to the trenches I noticed a dark line distinctly visible on 
the otherwise bright, sandy landscape ; and as I got nearer, the fort seemed to be 
covered with a black pall. I could not account for this phenomenon at first, 
and at the instant it was suggestive of something supernatural. On nearer 
approach however, at about one hundred and fifty yards' distance from the dark 
mass, I heard distinctly a loud, humming noise. As I approached nearer the 
sound increased in volume until it became a loud roar. It was not until I was 
close to the black line that I could make out the cause. Then I could see the 
topmost flies as they hovered and dived above the lower strata. I could trace 
this black line of flies for a half mile or so on either side of me, and it rose like 
a thick curtain for some ten yards off the ground. Here is a calculation for 
some mathematician. A wall of flies one mile long, ten yards high, and forty 
yards wide, and the flies so thickly massed that they might be said to be riding 
one on top of the other, and brushing each other side by side. This black 
wall represented the line of dead Egyptians ; and certainly if they were unburied 
they did not want for a pall. How I was to get through this cordon of flies was 
a doubtful problem. Time was pressing, and a party of Arabs were hanging 
behind and enjoying some nice ball practice, with my pony and me for targets. 
To go around the flank of this fly wall was out of the question, so I put spurs to 
my pony and urged him through. The brute refused several times, literally 
frightened by the hum and noise. At last I managed to get him ' head on,' 
and never shall I forget my passage through those forty yards of flies. They 
presented such a firm front as we passed through that I could feel a heavy pres- 
sure, — heavy enough to compel me instinctively to grip the saddle closer 
with my knees. I had to close mouth and eyes, and trust to chance to get 
straight through ; and it was no easy matter to endure the horrible stench that 
emanated from the mass. My pony was so terrified that I could not pull him 
up until we had got some hundred yards beyond the black mass and out into 
the clear desert air again." 

On the arrival of the Sinai contingent the Remington party set 
out on their return trip to Suez. Mrs. Remington parted from 
Dr. Trotter and Captain Blakeslee with real regret. 

"I shall always remember," she said to Bird, "that it was through 
you that I found my old physician." 

Mrs. Remington had gained so much by her rest at Wady Feiran 
that she was enabled to make the return journey without great fatigue, 

9 



130 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



the caravan halting over a Sabbath at Ain Amara, or the Bitter 
Wells. 

From Suez they steamed up the canal to Port Said, where they took 
passage for Jaffa. 

" How unreal all the dear old caravan life seems," Violet said, as 
they sat upon the deck watching Egypt fade away behind them. " It 
is as if we had closed one book and were about to open another. I 
wonder what the story will be ; something very different, I am sure." 







JAFFA, FROM THE NORTH. 



CHAPTER VII. 




JERUSALEM. 
Valley of Jehoshaphat. — The Muristan, Calvary. — The Jew's Wailing Place. 

IRD had received a letter from her father at Port Said, 
telling her that he would meet her at Jaffa, and 
directing her to some friends, — a Jewish family, at 
whose house she was to await his arrival, in case he 
was not at the wharf to receive her. 
As the hours grew less in number that they were to spend together, 
Bird grew silent. None of the others knew that a great struggle was 
going on in the girl's mind between duty and inclination, or rather an 
intense effort to reconcile the two. If she could only make it seem 
right to accept this love for which she hungered and thirsted! Perhaps 
on acquaintance Mr. and Mrs. Remington might become reconciled to 
her father and mother. What would be the effect upon them at their 
first meeting with her father ? That would decide everything, she 
thought ; and she waited with feverish anxiety for the ordeal. 

Jaffa was in sight, — first the blue hills, then the white houses and 
yellow plain. There was much confusion in the landing, which was 
effected in small boats rowed by natives. Mohammed was to be their 
dragoman in Syria as he had been heretofore, and he drove his 
bargain with the natives, sorted the baggage, and had them all at a 
neat little inn in the German quarter before some of the other passen- 
gers had left the ship. 

Bird's father was not on the wharf, but she hardly knew whether 
to be glad or sorry that the crisis was postponed. She asked to be 



132 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



taken immediately to the house which he had designated ; but as the 
Remingtons had decided not to proceed on their journey to Jerusalem 
until after luncheon, and to spend the intervening time in viewing 
the city, they persuaded her to allow them to send a message to her 
friends saying that she would join them in the afternoon. 

Mr. and Mrs. Remington decided to rest at the inn while Moham- 
med guided the young people about the city. 

" Jaffa very old town," he explained. " Noah he build ark here ; 
Jonah he set out from Jaffa on his little excursion. That whale not 
so comfortable for cabin passenger as Austrian Lloyd steamer, but it 
take him into Euxine Sea and land him nearer Nineveh than that 
ship, which only go to Tarsus. Some people say not likely story ; all 
Christian lies. But I b'lieve 'em. My father see the whale." 

" What ! " exclaimed Frank, " the very whale that swallowed 
Jonah ? " 

" My father see him," Mohammed persisted gravely. " He dead 
long time, but his bones lie down by the rocks where they chain 
Andromeda. That story in your Bible too ? All true same as Jonah. 
Same whale come back to swallow Andromeda; but Perseus, nice 
young man, kill him. His bones stay on the rocks till my father's 
day." 

" Do you mean to say that the monster who attempted to devour 
Andromeda and Jonah's whale was one and the same creature." 

" One same creature ; my father see his hones. Come down on 
rocks, I show you marks of chains." 

But Frank declined to view this convincing proof, and they repaired 
instead to the perhaps equally legendary house of Simon the tanner 
and drank of the well of which Charles Dudley Warner says that the 
water is so brackish that he is convinced Simon was accustomed to 
tan his leather in it. 

The authenticated historical events connected with Jaffa are many 
and interesting. It has always been the principal port of Palestine. 



JERUSALEM. 1 35 

It was here that Hiram, King of Tyre, landed the cedars which he 
sent down from Lebanon " in flotes," and for which Solomon had 
contracted for the building of the Temple. 

It was the depot of the supplies which Genoa and Venice sent to the 
crusades, and w 7 as captured by Saladin, by Richard Cceur de Lion, and 
later by Napoleon, who made it the scene of one of his most cruel 
massacres. 

On their return to the inn Mr. and Mrs. Remington reported that 
a stranger had called to inquire for Bird. 

" Was he my father ? " Bird asked anxiously. 

" Oh, no indeed ! " Mrs. Remington replied. " He was a very 
common person, an unmistakable Jew, of the most objectionable 
type. He gave his name as Baumgarten, said that he had met 
you at your father's house, though you might possibly not recognize 
him." 

Bird turned very pale, and supported herself by leaning upon the 
back of a chair. She knew that this was her father, that he had felt 
himself coolly received, and that for her sake he had not announced 
his relationship to her. She was on the point of proclaiming the 
truth, but the words seemed to choke her. She was silent for 
a moment, and Mrs. Remington continued : " This person said that 
your father would be in Jaffa to-morrow, but that if you desired you 
might continue your journey to Jerusalem with us this afternoon." 

" No, no ! " Bird exclaimed ; " I must stay and go on with my 
father." 

" I don't wonder you feel so," Frank replied ; " but for that matter, 
we can all wait." 

" No, you must not alter your plans for my sake. Mohammed has 
engaged a carriage for you, and the baggage has already been sent 
forward to Ramleh, where he has ordered rooms for the night. You 
must go on, — please do; I desire it." 

Frank saw that she wished it very intensely, and thought, " Per- 



1^6 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

haps she wishes to make this journey alone with her father in order 
to prepare him for the request which I am to make." And he said 
aloud, in a cheerful tone : " After all, what difference does a separation 
of a day or two make ? We shall all meet on Saturday in Jerusalem. 
Under the circumstances I think that Bird is right." 

After luncheon they took her to the house that had been indicated. 
Mr. Baumgarten was not there; but the people of the house evidently 
expected Bird, and received her cordially. 

" Remember we stop at the Mediterranean Hotel near the Joppa 
Gate," Violet called to her at parting. " Come to us on your arrival, 
or send us word where we can call on you." 

Bird tried to smile. They dfove away, but Frank lingered a 
moment to press her hand, and to whisper, " Try to make him like 
me; and good-by, my own darling." 

" Good-by," she replied. There was something so sad in her face 
that he asked, " Is anything the matter ? " 

" They are waiting for you," she said. " Good-by," and waving her 
hand to her friends in the carriage, she entered the house. 

Frank was vaguely troubled, but in the incidents of the drive he 
threw off his apprehensions. It was pleasant to explain familiar 
localities to the others, for he had been over the road twice before. 
The orange groves for which Joppa is famous faded away in the dis- 
tances, the afternoon grew cooler as they traversed the plain of 
Sharon. They passed an omnibus of motley pilgrims on their way to 
Jerusalem for the celebration of Easter ; and some Turkish officers 
eyed them curiously as they cantered by on their beautiful horses. 
Ramleh is not identified with any town mentioned in Scripture. Its 
chief object of interest is a stately old tower, which rises from among 
the ruins of an ancient Khan. They climbed the tower, and were 
rewarded by a wide-stretching view over the land of the Philistines. 
The next morning they proceeded on their journey, passing through 
Lydda, and Kurit el Enab, supposed by some to be the ancient 



JERUSALEM. 



*37 



Kirjeath Jearim. This region has been notorious for ages for its ban- 
dits, from the impenitent thief down to a quite recent highwayman 







THE TOWER OF RAMLEH. 



named Abu Ghaush. Then came Emmaus, and toward noon of the 
second day " they drew nigh unto Jerusalem." The first view of the 
city from the Joppa road is not imposing. One must know it well, go 



138 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

about its walls and study its towers and gates in the light of history, 
before its impressiveness is fully felt. 

It is well fortified by nature, for the city is bounded on the east 
by the Valley of Kedron or Jehoshaphat, and on the south and west 
by the Valley of Hinnom. Had another valley stretching along the 
northern wall of the city connected them, and had they then been 
filled with water, Jerusalem would have been an impregnable castle 
surrounded by a deep and wide moat. 

As it is, the two valleys form a strong defence to the city. No 
army would care to attempt to take it by assault, from Hinnom or 
Kedron. From this direction the walls rise grandly from the sum- 
mit of the hill. Its domes and minarets, its towers and roofs, dominate 
the landscape from within this strong enclosure in conscious security, 
as though they sang rejoicingly, "Our feet shall stand within thy 
gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact 
together." 

Of this wall, two and a half miles in circumference, Mr. Wilson 
says in his admirable book : — 

" The materials of which it is constructed represent every age of the city, 
from the time when ' Solomon in all his glory ' contracted for the Temple 
building, to the day when Baldwin and Richard Cceur de Lion constructed the 
splendid Muristan. These quarried fragments of the ages, some bevelled, some 
of porphyry from Arabia, some of the granite of Sinai, are placed with as little 
idea of unity and conformity as are the postage stamps in a young collector's 
album. Here and there a broad arch, closed up, is seen, with quantities of 
indentations and projections, with prominent angles, square towers, loop-holes, 
and threatening battlements. As in Christ's day, so now, a broad pathway 
protected by a breast-work runs around the top of the wall and serves as the 
fashionable and indeed only promenade of the curious old city. From the 
eastern wall, near the Golden Gate, close to the top, a fragment of a round 
porphyry column projects several feet. The makers of Moslem legends have 
fixed this for the accommodation of their prophet Mohammed, who is to sit 
astride it, and judge the world when the people assemble in the Valley of 
Jehoshaphat at the last day." 






JERUSALEM. 



141 



All of this our friends came to understand later. The road from 
Jaffa leads the traveller to the north of the city, and they saw it first 
from its least impressive side. 

The north is the only easy approach to Jerusalem, and it is from 
the north that its enemies have always assailed it. From this point 
Godfrey de Bouillon stormed the city, and on the height northwest of 




ENTRANCE TO CHURCH OF HOLY SEPULCHRE. 



the Joppa Gate the army of Titus was encamped. The Russian hos- 
pice now occupies this spot. The American travellers passed by it, 
entered the Joppa Gate, and took possession of their comfortable 
rooms at the Mediterranean Hotel. After a bath, luncheon, and a 
nap, Violet and Emma announced themselves ready for a walk. 
Before issuing into the labyrinth of streets Frank led them to the 
roof of the hotel, and with map in hand explained the " lay of the 
land." The map used was similar to the one on the lining of 
the cover to this volume. 

The portion of the city surrounded by the wall will be seen on ref- 
erence to this map to be in the shape of an irregular quadrangle. The 



142 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



southeast portion, or Mount Moriah, is crowned by the beautiful 
mosque of Omar. The Mahometan quarter extends from this 
locality through the centre of the city to the Church of the Holy 







ST. STEPHENS GATE, JERUSALEM. 



Sepulchre, dividing the Armenian and Jewish quarters on the south 
from the Christian quarter, which runs along the north, in which 
their hotel was situated. Having thus made them familiar with the 
topography of the city, Frank led his company through the Via Dolo- 



JERUSALEM. \^ 

rosa and out of St. Stephen's Gate into the Valley of Kedron or 
Jehoshaphat. 

The latter name signifies " Jehovah judgeth ; " and Jews, Catholics, 
and Mahometans alike believe that the Last Judgment will take place 
here. 

As they walked down the valley they passed between the Mount of 
Olives and Mount Moriah, — the two most interesting spots in Jerusa- 
lem ; the first the site of the ancient Temple, and the latter the most 
sacred spot of the land, — 

" Over whose acres walked those blessed feet 
Which eighteen hundred years ago were nailed 
For our advantage to the bitter cross." 

Violet looked away longingly to a spot on the Mount of Olives 
that Frank told her was the Garden of Gethsemane. 

" It is the place above all others near Jerusalem which I long to 
visit," she said. 

" There will be no time for such a walk this afternoon," Frank 
said ; " I am only going to take you a little way down the valley to see 
the tombs." 

After passing the Golden Gate, which has been walled up by the 
Moslems on account of a tradition that the Christians will one day 
enter it in triumph, they found themselves threading a city of the 
dead. Rock-cut sepulchres faced them on either hand, some of them 
simple niches, others pretentious architecturally. Frank pointed out 
the four which are most important, which are popularly called the 
tombs of Zechariah, Saint James, Absalom, and Jehoshaphat. A 
prominent authority, Dr. Edward Robinson, writes, — 

" It is unnecessary to waste words to show that they never had anything to 
do with the persons whose names they bear ; and the intermingling of the Greek- 
orders, and a spice of the massive Egyptian taste, which are visible in these 
monuments, serve also to show that they belong to a late period of the Greek 
and Roman art. The chief seat of this style was perhaps at Petra. If they 



146 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



existed prior to the destruction of Jerusalem they are probably to be referred to 
the times of the Herods, who were of Idumaean descent, and maintained an 
intercourse between Petra and Jerusalem. In that age, too, other foreigners 
of rank repaired to Jerusalem and erected for themselves mansions and 
sepulchres." 

Absalom's tomb is the most showy. It is fifty feet high and 
twenty-two feet square at the base. Near this monument we find 
many flat white tablets, marking the graves of Jews who have come 
from foreign lands to die and be buried at Jerusalem. 

Frank looked carefully over such of these stones as seemed recent. 
" I have thought,' 5 he said, " that on my next coming I might find the 

grave of. an old friend of mine, Bariah 
Baumgarten, — a most remarkable man. 
If he is not at rest here we shall see 
him next Friday over yonder at the 
Jews' Wailing Place, weeping the van- 
ished glories of the Temple. He told 
me a curious custom, which I believe 
is still kept up, in connection with, 
the tomb of Absalom. The rabbis 
enjoin that 'if any one in Jerusalem 
has a disobedient child he shall take 
him out to the Valley of Jehoshaphat 
to Absalom's monument, and force 
him, by words or stripes, to hurl stones at it and to curse Absalom, 
meanwhile telling him the life and fate of that rebellious son.'" 

They looked about for any such ceremonial stone-throwing and 
cursing ; but though the boys of the valley seemed to be indulging in 
both exercises, it was evidently conducted without parental direction, 
and was of an entirely spontaneous and unedifying character. 

Emma suggested that she had heard that these tombs resembled 
the monuments of Petra; and this remark brought Captain Blakeslee 
to mind. 




TOMB OF ABSALOM. 




"DAVID" TOWER, JERUSALEM. 



JERUSALEM. 



149 



They found the tomb of Saint James of an entirely different char- 
acter from that of Absalom. It is hewn out of the solid rock about 
fifteen feet above the ground. It has an ornamented cornice sup- 
ported by two handsome Doric columns. The legend states that Saint 
James retired to this cavern after the crucifixion,- and vowed not to 




SYNAGOGUE, JERUSALEM. 

leave it, or to eat or drink until the resurrection ; and that on the 
third day his Lord appeared to him saying, " Arise and eat, for I 
have risen from the dead." 

The tomb of Zechariah resembles somewhat that of Absalom. It 
is a square block of apparently solid rock, the cliff having been cut 
away around it. The sides are decorated with Ionic columns, and 
round the cornice is an ornament of acanthus-leaves. 

A little lower down, and east of the valley, they came upon the 
village of Siloam. Its inhabitants bear the bad name of bandits ; but 
they have made the vicinity very beautiful by using the water of the 
Pool of Siloam to irrigate their gardens of market vegetables, their 
grain-fields, vineyards, and orchards. 

Emma picked a lily for her herbarium beside " Siloam's shady rill," 



i5o 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 




TOMB OF SAINT JAMES. 



and they entered Jerusalem from the south, passing up the Tyropean 
Valley, and having walked entirely around Mount Moriah. The dome 
of the mosque rose very grandly, and they agreed to apply for permis- 
sion to visit it on the next day. 

Accordingly, after dinner Frank sought out the American consular 



JERUSALEM. 



153 



agent, only to ascertain that the affair could not be managed in so 
short a time. 

" So much the better," he thought, " we shall be able to include 
Bird in the party ; " and the visit was set for the week after, the 
Muristan being substituted for the following day. 

To many this relic of the Knights Templars is the most romantic 
in Jerusalem. The Prussian Government, which was presented with a 
part of the site on the occasion of the 
visit of the Emperor, has been making 
excavations here, and has discovered the 
apse of the church, with Gothic windows 
and cloisters. The ruins of the Muristan 
or Hospice of the Knights of St. John 
stand near the Church of the Holy Sepul- 
chre. The site is over five hundred feet 
square. In 1048 a church had been built 
here by Italian merchants, and a hospital 
attached to it, with a few monks in at- 
tendance. They were greatly enriched by 
Godfrey of Bouillon, and in the twelfth cen- 
tury were changed into an order of monks, 
some of whom were military, some preach- 

^„„i,i C • -Di-l 1 J INTERIOR, CHURCH OF ST. TAMES, 

ers, and others Serving: Brothers who cared 

& JERUSALEM. 

for the sick and pilgrims, hundreds of whom 

were received in the great Muristan. The Order became very rich and 
powerful. Their history in Palestine, Cyprus, Rhodes, and Malta is a 
romance, illustrated by many beautiful architectural remains. 

Emma was in her element here, — for were there not inscriptions 
to be copied ? — and Violet obtained permission to come again and 
sketch. Emma made a careful drawing of the armorial ensigns of 
Jerusalem assigned to Godfrey of Bouillon and his successors. Dens 
vult, " God wills," was the battle-cry of the Crusaders. 




154 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



The shield is surrounded by the insignia of the three principal 
military orders of the Crusaders. Behind the escutcheon is the eight- 
pointed cross of the Knights Templars. On the left is suspended 
the badge of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, and on the right that 
of the Knights Hospitallers of St. John the Baptist. 

The crown and wreath of thorns are in commemoration of the 
words of Godfrey when he declined the coronet offered him, saying 
that " he would never wear a crown of gold in that city wherein the 
Saviour of the world had worn a crown of thorns." 

That evening they all confidently expected that Bird would call 
upon them, or at least send them word as to her own whereabouts, 

and they were each accord- 
ing to their several tempera- 
ments grieved, vexed, or 
anxious that nothing was 
heard from her. Mrs. Rem- 
ington agreed to remain at 
home through the next fore- 
noon to receive her, while the 
others spent the morning in 
a visit to the Grotto of Jere- 
miah, near the Damascus 
Gate, which Dr. Robinson 
and many other eminent 
archaeologists regard as the 
true site of Calvary. Mr. 
Remington had been much 
interested in the discussion, 
and before visiting the spot he went over the views of different 
authorities with the young people. 

Mr. Fisher Howe, an able student and Oriental traveller, published 
a book on this subject in 1871. It was necessary for him to state 




ARMORIAL ENSIGNS OF JERUSALEM. 



JERUSALEM. 



157 



what the evangelists have to say, and what other allusions found in 
the New Testament demand in reference to the site. He makes six 
points : — 

1. That the place of the crucifixion was outside the walls of Jerusa- 
lem. Hebrews xiii. 12; Matthew xxvii. 31, 32; John xix. 16, 17, — 
with parallel passages from other gospels. 




QUARRY UNDER JERUSALEM. 



2. That this place was nigh to the city. John xix. 20. 

3. That it was popularly known under the general designation of 
Kranion. He notes the meaning of Golgotha and of Calvary, and 
then quotes Matthew xxvii. 33 ; Luke xxiii. 33 ; and John xix. 20. 

4. That it was obviously nigh to one of the leading thoroughfares 
to and from Jerusalem. Matthew xxvii. 39 ; Mark xv. 29. 

5. That this spot was very conspicuous, — that is, it could be seen 
by those at a distance. Matthew xxvii. 55; Luke xxiii. 35; John xix. 20. 

6. That it was nigh to, not only sepulchres, but also gardens. 
John xix. 38-42. 



158 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 






It is impossible to meet these requirements by the traditional site, 
now occupied by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre ; and the so-called 
Grotto of Jeremiah is the only locality which perfectly meets them all. 
The young people took up this view with enthusiasm, on examination 
of the ground. The place had evidently been unchanged for acres. 
The cave has been proved to have been excavated by the engineers 
of King Hezekiah, centuries before Christ was born. The skull ap- 
pearance must have existed just so time out of mind, and had proba- 
bly been popularly called the skull for generations. 

Says Dr. Merrill, for some time the American Consul at Jeru- 
salem : — 

' ; I choose to touch this point with a single illustration. We are all ac- 
quainted with these curious freaks of nature, that after long ages become land- 
marks just because of their singularity. Who will ever forget the ' Profile ' in 
the White Mountains? The portrait of the 'White Horse' across the Saco 
River in front of the fine Intervale House in North Conway, affords another 
example. 

" For unreckoned years these two landmarks have been there in the rocks, 
and they will stay there until dooms-day, for all we know. Because they are so 
odd popular imagination takes them up, and makes use of them forever. So 
Mr. Howe used to consider this shape of a Kranion there in an elevated con- 
spicuousness beside the Damascus Gate, one of his strongest arguments for the 
spot. From the southern road over the Mount of Olives just where it takes a 
sharp bend in crossing the ridge the skull shape is even more distinct." 

So convinced were they all that they had visited the true site of 
Calvary, that Emma acknowledged she had no desire to visit the so- 
called Church of the Holy Sepuichre, with its collection of legendary 
holy places ; but Violet felt that there would be an interest in standing 
in a place which had been held sacred for ages, and was consecrated 
by the faith and strong emotion of many loving and trusting souls. 
They were to remain in Jerusalem until Easter, in order to witness 
the ceremonies at this church, to which many pilgrims were flocking 
from different parts of Europe, and especially from Russia. 



JER [/SALEM. I 5 9 

As they returned to the hotel, Frank strode on a little in advance 
of the others. His impatience was plainly visible. He feared that 
something had happened to Bird. Was she ill ? They had left her 
with strangers at Jaffa. Was it possible that they were impostors, and 
that they had no real authority from her father to receive her. He had 
firmly determined in his own mind that if no word was received from 
her that day he would ride back to Jaffa and investigate the mystery. 

Mrs. Remington met them with such a grave face that they all 
felt instantly that something was wrong. 

" What has happened ? " Violet asked anxiously. " Is Bird ill ? " 

" No," replied Mrs. Remington, li but she has sent us a very strange 
letter. I cannot understand it at all." 

Jaffa. 

My dear Friends, — You have been so good to me that it is very hard to write good- 
by, but it is easier to write the words than it would be to say them. I think it would 
break my heart to part from you in person, and it is perhaps all for the best that we 
fancied we were soon to meet again, when I waved you a farewell the other day. 

My father and mother met me a few hours later, but they were on their way from 
Jerusalem, not toward it ; and I have been an undutiful daughter for a long time, and must 
now try to make up for several years of absence and neglect. I wish you could have met 
my mother. She joins me in most loving gratitude for all your kindness to me ; my father 
also begs me to assure you of his deepest appreciation. As for myself — words fail me. 
You know that I love you. 

Bird. 

After this, the name Violet was written twice and then blotted as 
though by kisses or tears. 

" And was there no message or letter for me ? " Frank cried, in a 
tone that told his story as plainly as words could have done. 

Mr. Remington looked at him keenly ; his mother pressed his 
hand ; and Violet, with ready tact, began a discussion with Emma. 

It was Friday, and in the afternoon they had agreed to visit the 
Wailing Place of the Jews, the western boundary of Mount Moriah, 
close to the Jewish quarter. To reach it they walked through this 
quarter, — the most wretched and filthy part of the city. Women and 



i6o 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LA AD. 



children looked at them curiously, but the men had left their business 
for the ceremony of the day. 

The Jews' Wailing Place is a spot to which, especially on Fridays, 
Jews of both sexes and every nationality congregate to lament the 




THE JEWS WAILING PLACE. 



destruction of the Temple. A portion of the wall of the ancient Tem- 
ple, supposed to be near to the Holy of Holies, stands here. Some of 
the stones are bevelled, many are fully twenty-five feet in length. It 
is the finest and best preserved portion of the wall. The Jews 



JERUSALEM. l6l 

obtained the privilege of touching and kissing these stones by the 
payment of a heavy ransom. They stand in their long gaberdines 
and fur caps, holding their prayer-books, reading or reciting psalms 
and litanies. The seventy-ninth psalm is their favorite. 
One old rabbi recited a most impressive litany : — 

" For the palace that lies waste ; 
For the temple that is destroyed ; 
For the walls that are torn down ; 
For our glory that is vanished ; 
For the great stones that are burned to dust; " 

The others responding, — 

•' Here sit we now lonely and weep." 

Some wept, some rocked to and fro, some knelt and pressed their 
foreheads against the wall ; others kissed the stones passionately, or 
seemed to listen at the crevices for some word from the Holy Place. 

The eminent architect, Mr. Ferguson, who has studied the spot, 
believes that a line running through the altar and the Holy of Holies 
would cut the middle of the Wailing Place ; but the Oracle is silent 
now, and no word of consolation comes to the weeping Hebrews. 

Many Jews here are of the same type to which tradition has 
assigned our Lord, with fair skin and light hair. The Jews of 
Europe, with — 

" Hooky nose and beard half shorn, 
And eyes as black as the fruit of a thorn,"' 

have the Assyrian features, and are probably descendants of the Baby- 
lonian captives. Charles Dudley Warner describes another type of 
Jew, that of the tribe of Benjamin, who " wears a dark, corkscrew, 
stringy curl hanging down each side of his face." 

Violet noticed one man of peculiarly venerable aspect. His 
long flowing beard gave him the appearance of a prophet. She 
pointed him out to Frank, who recognized him with a start, exclaim- 
ing, " I knew he would be here. It is Bariah Baumgarten." 



1 62 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IX THE HOLY LAND. 

Frank waited until the old man had finished his lamentations, when 
he went up to him and was most warmly received. The old man 
embraced him and wept again, this time for joy. 

" I would ask you to come to our house," he said, " but my daughter 
she is away. She has gone to Jaffa wiz her husband to meet a 
daughter who is from America come out to us, — one whom I had 
mourned as dead, but she is come back to us. Zey will be here 
in a few days, and you will visit us as in ze old days, is it not so ? " 

Frank introduced his family, and promised to bring them to call 
upon the Baumgartens. He explained to his parents as they walked 
back to the hotel the debt of gratitude which he owed to this old man, 
who had been his teacher, and to his daughter, who had nursed him in 
so motherly a way. 

" I long to see her and to thank her," said Mrs. Remington. " I 
wonder whether there is anything that I can do for her to show my 
gratitude." 

If Mrs. Remington had only known, there was something which she 
could do, — something for which Mrs. Baumgarten longed with all the 
intensity of a mother's love, and which deeply concerned the happiness 
of both their children. But Mrs. Remington did not know ; and when 
Frank answered, " I think that she would be most pleased by your 
friendship," his mother replied, " It may not be quite practicable for 
me to give her that — You tell me that she is a Jewess." 




CHAPTER VIII. 

JERUSALEM {contin ued). 

A Glimpse at Bird. — The Garden of Gethsemane. — The Mosque of Omar. — 

Jerusalem Jews. 

ND all this time, if they had but known it, Bird was very 
near them. It was true, as she had written from Jaffa, 
that when she met her father he was on his way from 
Jerusalem ; but he had simply come down with Mrs. 
Baumgarten to meet his daughter and conduct her 
home. Bird had purposely allowed her friends to imagine that she 
had left the country ; for she knew that if they had any idea that she 
was in the same city they would not rest until they had found her, and 
then there would be the same old struggle over again between duty 
and inclination. It was hard enough as it was, but it was easier than 
it would have been to resist Violet's pleadings and Frank's love. 

She was not altogether unhappy in her decision. There was one de- 
liriously happy moment when she threw herself into her mother's arms, 
when it seemed to her that just to be with her mother once more 
was worth every sacrifice, — indeed, that nothing was a sacrifice if she 
possessed her love and companionship. Her mother's face beamed back 
her own hapJ3iness, and told how she had yearned for her absent child. 
" So dose eggsberiment was not one success ? Eh, Zipporah ? " said 
Mr. Baumgarten. 

It was good to be called by her Hebrew name again, and she 
responded gladly, " I am ashamed of myself that I could ever have 
tried it. Of course it was not a success. I am not such an undutiful 
daughter as to be happy with every tie sundered between us." 



1 64 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

" And you don't want notting to do wiz no more Christians, and 
are going to be one good Jewess girl, and ain't ashamed no more of 
your old father ? " 

" I never was ashamed of you," she protested. 

" Then what you mean when you write zat you don't want your 
mother and me to see zese people or to let zem know zat you are 
our daughter? " 

" Because they- — that is, Mr. and Mrs. Remington — scorn Jews, and 
are prejudiced against them. I am not going to have them look at 
you and mother in a supercilious way, and think that we were all trying 
to deceive them about me. I never want to see them again. I want 
to quietly drop out of their lives ; but I was not quite brave enough to 
frankly confess everything. Indeed, I am more ashamed of the deceit 
than of the fact which I wished to conceal. I could bear to have them 
know that I am a Jewess, but not that I had wormed myself into their 
intimacy by false pretences. I never saw any use of' changing my 
name. I wish I had never done it ; and from this time forward I want 
to be Zipporah Baumgarten again." 

" I don't know whether we can do zat already," Mr. Baumgarten 
mused. " We got your name changed by ze Legislature. Now it is 
Bird Orchard by law, I don't know can we change it back again effery 
time so easy." 

" Well, never mind what you call me. I am your daughter, and a 
Jewess, and let every one know it. I am proud of the fact." 

" Effery one but ze Remingtons. You still don't want zem to 
know ? " 

" There is no need of their ever hearing from me or seeing me 
again." 

" You must write them some eggsblanation. Zey eggspect to see 
you in Jerusalem. Zey will hunt that city over with ze bolice till 
they find you." 

Bird had not thought of this contingency, but it seemed very likely ; 



JERUSALEM. 1 67 

and to cover her tracks more completely she wrote to Mrs. Remington, 
leaving her to infer that she and her father had left the country. She 
wrote to Frank, too, a little word of farewell, in which she did not pre- 
tend that she did not care for him, but in which she made it very plain 
that they could never meet again. 

A certain relief came to her after this, like the physical one which 
comes with amputation to the sufferer who has undergone tortures 
with a wounded hand. She had known of such a case during her 
visit at Violet's country home. A young workman at the mill had his 
hand caught and crushed in the machinery. He had begged from the 
first to have it taken off, but his physician had imperilled his life and 
caused him to suffer nameless agony in his efforts to save it. There 
was positive delight in the mans face when the operation was con- 
cluded. It all came back to Bird as she opened a little Testament of 
Frank's which they had used that last day in Jaffa as a guide-book in 
visiting the house of Simon the Tanner. By mistake it had been 
slipped into her little handbag, and she determined to keep it, and to 
read it occasionally, too, for his sake. She opened it now in her quiet 
room and read without selection : " If thy hand offend thee [margin, 
or " cause thee to offend "], cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into 
life maimed — " She read no further, but she knew the alternative. She 
felt herself cruelly maimed, but she knew that she had entered into life ; 
and that was better than to cherish a moral wound which could only go 
on inflicting upon her anguish which could only end in spiritual death. 

They did not return to Jerusalem immediately, but lingered a few 
days longer in Jaffa. At length, however, Mr. Baumgarten became 
impatient, and they returned. The house and all its surroundings and 
their way of living were very different from anything to which Bird had 
been accustomed hitherto. She tried hard, however, to adapt herself to 
circumstances, and to aid her mother. No matter how uncongenial our 
circumstances may be, there are generally persons to be found near us 
worse off than ourselves whom we may aid. Mrs. Baumgarten had 



1 68 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

busied herself in relieving the necessities of the poor of her own nation, 
and Bird threw herself into her mother's charities. She did not go out 
a great deal, for she feared a chance meeting with her friends ; but she 
was expert with her needle, and she occupied herself in making gar- 
ments for the destitute. One afternoon, while sewing together, Mrs. 
Baumgarten spoke of Frank Remington, and she told the story of her 
acquaintance with him. " I was much drawn to ze young man," she 
said ; " I do not think zat he despised our people, for he was very 
fond of your grandfather, who was his teacher, and very grateful to me 
for ze leetle kindnesses which I was able to show him. When I heard 
zat he was one of your party I hoped zat he might care for you and 
you for him, for I hafe neffer seen a young man of our own nation 
whom I liked as much." 

" Mother," Bird asked, bending forward eagerly, " would you have 
liked to have had me marry Frank Remington ? " 

" Very much," Mrs. Baumgarten replied. Then, seeing the expres- 
sion on her daughter's face, she added quickly : " But don't look so 
distressed, we cannot hafe all as we want ; and if you do not lofe him 
it ought not to be." 

On the next Sabbath Mr. and Mrs. Remington and Emma 
attended service at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre ; but Violet and 
Frank set out together for a long walk to Gethsemane and Bethany. 

" Gethsemane is more sacred to me than any church in Jerusalem," 
Frank had said to Violet ; " it is the spot where I feel nearest to 
Christ." And he had not objected when she offered to accompany 
him. 

They were very dear to each other, this brother and sister, and 
Violet knew by a woman's quick instinct that her brother was 
suffering. 

It was a beautiful spring morning. The olive-trees were silvery in 
the morning sunshine, which flashed here and there on o;reat crimson 




bida's interpretation of Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. 



JERUSALEM. 



171 



pools of poppies. The brook of Kedron was dry, but fringing its 
ravine were the tiny white flowers of the Star of Bethlehem, and the 
air was sweet with aromatic shrubs. They climbed the footpath for a 
short distance almost silently. Violet was wondering whether it was 
on such a beautiful day as this, as it certainly was the same season of 
the year, that Christ rode over the hill from Bethany, making his 




JERUSALEM, FROM THE BETHANY ROAD. 

triumphal entry into the city. There were clusters of palm-trees 
below, as there might have been eighteen hundred years ago ; and 
Violet could imagine the multitude stripping off the branches and 
waving them, as they surged up the Bethany road to meet their king. 
Then as they descended with him, and the view of the Temple burst 
upon their gaze, they cried : " Hosanna to the Son of David ! Blessed 
is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." And " he, when he 
beheld the city, wept over it." 

They would go on to Bethany a little later, but now they turned 
aside from the main road to the Garden of Gethsemane. No spot 
connected with the life of the Saviour is better authenticated than this. 



172 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



Jerome describes it, Christians at the time of the Crusades believed 
in the locality, and it is not likely that a place so full of tragic and 
tender memories should have been lost sight of by the Early Church. 
It is situated quite low on the slope of the Mount of Olives and is 
surrounded by a high stone wall. A Franciscan monk admitted them, 




GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 



and then considerately left them to themselves. Frank threw him- 
self upon a seat, and took a book from his pocket. " Is that a guide- 
book ? " Violet asked. 

" It is the guide-book," he replied. " Wander about by yourself, 
please, that 's a good sister ; I feel as if I had lost my way, and I want 
to study it up." 

Violet strolled away from him, longing to sympathize, and yet 
fearing to intrude. 

It was a formal little garden, planted with ancient olive-trees 
whose gnarled branches cast weird shadows on the path. The wall 
which encircled the garden was adorned with shrines, affording to de- 
vout Catholics their fourteen stations for prayer and meditation. 

An arbor on one side was overrun with passion-vine, and there 
were beds of flowers bordered with sweet-lavender. There were 



JERUSALEM. 1 75 

trimly cut hedges, a well, and a little marble temple over Canova's bas- 
relief of The Agony in the Garden. 

Violet plucked a passion flower, and repeated to herself softly the 
old Latin hymn : — 

" Tu, Tu. mi Jesu, totum me 
Amplexus es in cruce ! 
Tulisti clavos, lanceam, 
Multamque ignominiam, 
Innumeros dolores, 
Sudores et angores, 
Ac mortem ! et base propter me, 
Ac pro me peccatore ! " 

She had hardly finished when she heard a sob, and turning, saw 
that Frank was bending forward with his face buried in his hands. 
She was kneeling at his side in a moment. 

" My dear boy, you need not tell me anything ; I know all 
about it." 

Frank straightened himself. " It seems sacrilege to think of one's 
private troubles in a place made sacred by the agony of our Saviour," 
he said. 

" But he bore our sorrows and carried our griefs," Violet replied 
gently. " He surely wishes you to take your trouble to him." 

" I know," Frank replied, " but not here ; my own griefs are not 
worthy of thought here. Come, let us walk on, and I will tell you all 
about it." 

There was a little pause in the conversation as they left the garden ; 
but at length Violet continued it, quite as she might have done if 
Frank had spoken in the mean time. " I think it was very cruel in 
Bird not to write you. She must have known that you loved her." 

" She did write," Frank replied ; and he laid this letter in Violet's 
hand : — 

Dear Frank, — It cannot be. There are reasons which I cannot explain. I told 
you at Wady Feiran that it could not end happily. Since then it has all grown terribly 
plain to me. I ought never to have made the Sinai trip with you, and then it would not 



176 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

have been so hard for us both. Forgive me. I was blinded by my own affection for you. 

Sometimes it is a blessed thing to be blind, but now I see all the cruel truth. It can never 

be. Forgive me, for it is hard for me too. _ 

to _ ;, Bird. 

" I do not understand it the least bit in the world," Violet said, 
handing Frank the letter. 

" Nor do I," he replied ; " but I can see that Bird regards thi 
decision as final. She gives no possibility of hope, and I must accep 
her dictum ; but it is very hard. I came out here to try to gai 
strength to bear it. I shall never forget, little sister, that you stood b 
me in one of the darkest hours of my life." 

Frank drew a long breath, and straightened himself. There was a 
look of quiet resolution in his face which told that he had not sought 
this sacred place in vain. There was an unspoken prayer in his heart : 
" Holy Father, show her the source of all comfort ; and whatever 
may be thy will concerning us, guide her, help her, bless her 
forevermore." 

They turned toward the Church of the Ascension, which is situated 
on the summit of the Mount of Olives, and is supposed to mark the 
spot from which Jesus ascended to heaven. No matter that many of 
the so-called sacred places cannot be proven ; they are, as has been 
well said, all holy ground to us, " because here in Bethlehem Christ 
was born ; because here he walked and talked and taught and minis- 
tered; because upon Olivet he often sat with his disciples, and here 
somewhere, it matters not where, he suffered death, and conquered 
death." 

Violet and Frank walked on to Bethany, about two miles from 
Jerusalem. They found it a village of some forty hovels, situated in 
a delightful valley, adorned with fig, olive, and almond trees, south of 
the Mount of Olives. On their way they passed several tombs, a 
short distance from the road, any one of which might have been the 
resting-place of Lazarus. They stepped aside to explore them, and 
found them only empty chambers choked with clumps of maiden-hair 



JERUSALEM. 



179 




*5®ggm 



NEAR BETHANY. 



fern. The modern name of Bethany is El Lazarieh, — the home of 
Lazarus. 

The houses were built in terraces, the people were uninteresting, 
but it was the place which had seemed most like home to Jesus after 
he left his father's home anions the Galilean hills. 

They returned to the city by the central of the three paths which 
cross the Mount, and which they fancied might have been the one up 
which David climbed when fleeing from Absalom ; but before descend- 
ing the Mount of Olives, they paused upon its summit to look away to 
Moab hills beyond the Dead Sea, and the Jordan valley in the fore- 
ground. 



l8o THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND, 

" What are those high hills ? " Violet asked. 

" The Perean Mountains." 

" What ! so near ? " and then she blushed and corrected herself. 
" How stupid in me ! I was thinking of Petra." 

The next day permission was received to visit the Dome of the 
Rock, or, as it is incorrectly called, the Mosque of Omar. The Sultan 
Omar did build a small mosque within the Temple enclosure, but 
traditions have become so confused that it is now impossible to locate 
its site. 

Lieutenant Lynch thus describes Mount Moriah and its buildings : 

" A dome graceful as that of St. Peter's, though of course on a far smaller 
scale, rising from an elaborately finished circular edifice, this edifice raised on a 
square marble platform rising on the highest ridge of a green slope, which descends 
from it north, south, and east, to the walls surrounding the whole enclosure, — 
platform and enclosure diversified by lesser domes and fountains, by cypresses 
and olives and palms, — the whole as secluded and quiet as the interior of some 
college or cathedral garden, only enlivened by the white figures of veiled 
women stealing like ghosts up and down the green slope, or by the turbaned 
heads bowed low in the various niches for prayer, this is ' the noble sanc- 
tuary,' the second most sacred spot in the Mahometan world, — that is, the 
next after Mecca ; the second most beautiful mosque, — that is, the next after 
Cordova." 

Abd-el-Malek, Caliph of Damascus, at a later period erected the 
mosque El Aksah on Mount Moriah. This building, during the 
Crusades, was occupied by the knights who took the name of Temp- 
lars from residing on the site of the Jewish Temple. Still later the 
splendid Dome of the Rock was built near by, which, though a sacred 
building, is not, strictly speaking, a mosque. It is built over a mass 
of limestone, said by Mohammed to be one of the rocks of Paradise, 
and to hang suspended in the air. It is, indeed, perfectly evident 
that the mass rests upon a wall ; but the Mohammedans say that this 
wall is entirely unnecessary, and is only placed beneath it that people 
with weak brains need not be driven insane by so terrible a spectacle. 



JERUSALEM. 1 8 



o 



From this rock Mohammed is supposed to have mounted to Paradise; 
and the shrine built over it is a magnificent building, octagonal in 
shape. Each side is sixty-seven feet in length. Its Byzantine dome 
was originally covered with gold, but is now decorated with enamelled 
tiles in stripes of green, white, and blue, with quotations from the 
Koran in interlaced lettering. 

The interior is most impressive. Columns of green and yellow 
porphyry with golden capitals support the black and white arches, and 
the windows flash with jewelled glass. The walls are adorned with 
exquisite mosaics, and the iron work of the traceried screens is very 
beautiful. 

There were other interesting buildings on the broad platform which 
occupies the site of the ancient temple courts, — a rectangle of about 
fifteen hundred feet north and south, by nine hundred east and west. 
Columns of the finest marble had been built into many of them among 
blocks of ordinary limestone. Frank was of the opinion that these 
had originally formed a part of the Temple. 

Mohammed brought Violet a fragment of beautiful serpentine 
which he had picked up from a pile of rubbish, and which might have 
been one of the stones which David gathered for Solomon's use in 
building the Temple. 1 

There was a carver in the Jewish quarter who was very clever, he 
said, and would make her a beautiful paper-weight in any shape which 
she might suggest. Violet visited the carver, and he agreed to make 
from the fragment a miniature representation of the Dome of the 
Rock. 

The bazaars of Jerusalem are not so varied as those of Cairo. 
Their chief commodities are carved work from Bethlehem, — rosaries 
of olive-wood and of berries, — inlaid work in shell and mother-of- 
pearl, and Turkish rugs. 

1 Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God . . onyx stones, and 
stones to be set, glistering stones, and of divers colors, and all manner of precious stones, and 
marble stones in abundance. — i Chronicles xxix. 2. 



184 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

Emma found some phylacteries, or leather cases containing rolls 
on which portions of the Scriptures were written in Hebrew, with 
straps sewed to the cases by which they could be fastened about the 
forehead ; and she bought several, believing them to be very ancient, 
and was much chagrined when Frank informed her that they were 
probably mere modern imitations, manufactured to deceive tourists. 

" My old friend, Bariah Baumgarten, can tell you whether they are 
genuine," he added ; and that afternoon they picked their way through 
the gutters, which pass by the name of streets in the Jewish quarter, 
to the home of the Baumgartens. 

A servant led them through a courtyard to a pleasant room fur- 
nished almost in an American manner. Some one flitted out of the 
room as they entered, and Violet's keen eyes discovered traces of 
recent female occupation, — a work table heaped with cotton cloth 
where some one had been cutting out garments. A gold thimble lay 
beside the work. While waiting for some one to receive, them Emma 
idly picked it up and examined it. Something peculiar in its appear- 
ance seemed to startle her, but she laid it down without speaking, and 
at that moment Mrs. Baumgarten entered. She greeted Frank 
warmly, and was presented by him to the others. There was some- 
thing in her face which drew Violet to her at once. The attraction 
seemed to be mutual, for Mrs. Baumgarten impressed a warm kiss on 
the girl's cheek ; but she met Mrs. Remington in a more guarded man- 
ner. There was something of mutual inquiry, not to say distrust, in 
the manner in which the two women regarded each other. Mrs. 
Remington talked most, uttering agreeable little commonplaces while 
she darted furtive glances of investigation at the proud, silent woman 
who regarded her all the time with an embarrassing scrutiny, as 
though she were reading her through and through. 

Bariah Baumgarten, the sage, entered with his son Shear, who 
proved to be the same man whom the senior Remingtons had seen at 
Jaffa. They were prepared for this by the identity of the name, and 
Mr. Remington immediately asked for Bird. 



JERUSALEM. ^7 

" Her father met her at Jaffa. Did she not write you ? " 

" Yes," replied Mr. Remington ; " and she said she was about to 
make a journey away from Jerusalem with him, but she very carelessly 
neglected to give us any address to which we could write. As you 
know Mr. Orchard, perhaps you can aid us in this particular." 

Mrs. Baumgarten seemed disturbed ; the color came to her cheek, 
and she turned from Mrs. Remington to look apprehensively at her 
husband. He, on the contrary, was perfectly at his ease ; he wore a 
sly, almost quizzical expression. " Ze young lady's father," he asked, 
" he is not personally known to you ? " 

" I have not the pleasure of his acquaintance," Mr. Remington 
replied. 

" He is sometimes in Jerusalem," continued Mr. Baumorarten ; 
" when he comes again I might arrange a meeting here in my house." 

Mrs. Baumgarten interrupted her husband. " Pardon me, Mr. 
Remington ; if ze young lady gave you no address, does not ze idea 
suggest itself zat she may hafe omit zis not by chance, but by 
purpose ? " 

" No," replied Mr. Remington, decidedly. " You are quite wrong 
in that conclusion ; we were all on the best terms with Miss Orchard. 
Were we not, Frank ? Were we not, my dear ? " 

To Mr. Remington's astonishment neither his wife nor Frank on 
being appealed to responded with that alacrity which he had antici- 
pated. Frank felt that Mrs. Baumgarten had divined the truth, — Bird 
did not wish her whereabouts known ; and he did not reply. Mrs. 
Remington, woman-like, answered evasively. " We will not discuss 
Miss Orchard's motives here; but if Mr. Baumgarten can arrange for 
us to meet her father, I am sure we shall be most grateful." 

Mr. Baumgarten half closed his eyes, and brought the palms of his 
hands together, as though in deep meditation. " It is not impossi- 
ble," he said. " I zink I can zafely bromise you as much. How long 
you remain in Jerusalem ? " 

" Until after Easter." 



1 88 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

" Fery good, fery good." 

" And you think Mr. Orchard will be here by that time? " 

Mr. Baumgarten nodded gravely. 

" And will Miss Orchard be with him ? " 

Mrs. Baumgarten could no longer restrain her impatience. 
" Shear," she said, " will it not be better you let zis young lady man- 
age her own affair ? " 

But Mr. Remington now turned the current of conversation in a 
direction which pleased her better by remarking : " Miss Orchard 
once said that her father was a friend of Baron Hirsch. Can you tell 
me anything of that nobleman's plans for Jewish colonization in 
Palestine." 

" Can I tell mine own beezness ? " Mr. Baumgarten asked face- 
tiously ; and with his odd accent, which gave an amusing aspect to 
the plainest details, he related the Baron's plans, and the many frus- 
trating circumstances with which as the Baron's agent he was con- 
stantly met. 

That very season a band of over a thousand Jewish refugees ex- 
pelled from Odessa, in southern Russia, by order of the Government, 
had been aided by the Baron Hirsch fund, and had started to join the 
Hebrew Colony in Palestine. At Constantinople the sultan forbade 
them to enter, giving as a reason that there were Jews enough in 
Palestine. From Smyrna the emigrants made a second attempt to 
enter Palestine, but were again unsuccessful. From this point they 
journeyed to Marseilles, and the greater part sailed for the Argentine 
Republic, while some two hundred sought their fortunes in America, 
aided by the United Hebrew Charities of New York. 

" It is ze old story," said Bariah Baumgarten. " Where haf ze 
children of Abraham a home ? Nevertheless, ze bromise standeth 
sure, — ze remnant shall return." 

" Is it not perhaps best," Frank asked, " that too many of the poorer 
class of Hebrews should not settle in Palestine at once ? Have you not 
as many Hebrew poor now in Jerusalem as you can well care for? " 



JERUSALEM. 



189 



" You are right," Shear Baumgarten replied ; " but are you familiar 
wiz ze noble charities established here for their brethren, by wealthy 
Hebrews of effery land ? " 

The Remingtons were glad to be informed on this point ; and with 
Mr. Baumgarten for a guide they visited the hospital built by Mr. 
Touro of New Orleans and other American Jews, the almshouses 




JEWISH ALMSHOUSES, ERECTED BY SIR MOSES MONTEFIORE. 

erected by Sir Moses Montefiore, across the Valley of Hinnom. He 
showed them also the Leper Asylum, under the charge of the Mora- 
vian Church, which has always been noted for its care of unfortunates 
suffering from this terrible disease. 

" Many of ze poorest of our nation who haf lived longest here 
suffer in zis way, and ze new comers seem to haf effery ozer ill. I 
am now bending of my energy," said Mr. Baumgarten, " not so much 
to bring more Jews here as to make more comfortabler zoze who 
haf come. It is one big job ; but when I goes into beezness, I 



190 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

don't find no fault zat zoze beezness is big. I hafe some rich part- 
ners, and you will see Baumgarten and Company don't come to no 
bankruptcy." 

" Surely," said Frank, as they walked homeward, " what we have 
seen to-day would seem to disprove the assertion that the Jews are a 
©rasping, miserly race. Such open-handed, princely liberality I have 
never seen surpassed among Christians." 

"Yes," replied Mr. Remington, "but it is liberality to their own. 
When did you ever see an instance of a Jew showing generosity to a 
Gentile ? They are separatists, and they wish to remain separate." 

As they walked homeward, Mrs. Remington asked of Frank : 
" What did you study with the elder Mr. Baumgarten ? " 

" He taught me to read Hebrew," Frank replied, " and would read 
and translate the Talmud for me." 

" Just what writings are embraced in the Talmud ? " Emma asked. 

" The Mishna and Gemara," Frank replied. " There are two 
editions of the Talmud, — that of Jerusalem, and the Babylonian Tal- 
mud, which is four times larger. The Mishna is the oral law, which 
the Jews declare was given to Moses at Sinai, but was not then written 
out, but was handed down from father to son until the second century 
of our era, when it was compiled by Jehudi Hanassi, and gave rise to 
almost endless commentaries, by the learned rabbis, which were also 
gathered together under the title of Gemara." 

" I should think it would be very dull reading," Mrs. Remington 
remarked. 

" In the main you are right; but, as has been well said, 'beautiful 
and sublime passages, brilliant diamonds in heaps of cinders, sparkle on 
their pages.' But, after all, the best of Jewish literature is contained in 
the Old Testament. I do not think we half realize what we owe to 
the Hebrews for preserving to us that wonderful collection, — writings 
which have been the source not only of our religion, but also the 
inspiration of what is best in our own writings." 



JERUSALEM. 



I 9 I 



Frank was undoubtedly right. Mr Charles Dudley Warner gives 
the Hebrews only a merited tribute when he says, — 




TURKISH WOMAN OF JERUSALEM. 



" The Jews would fail of the consideration they enjoy but for one thing, and 
that is, after all, the chief and enduring product of any nationality, — we mean, 
of course, its literature. 

" It is that which invests ancient Jerusalem with its charm and dignity, — not 
what the Jews did, but the songs of their poets, the warnings and lamentations 



1 92 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

of their prophets, the touching tales of their story-tellers. And most of this 
unequalled literature is the product of seasons of turbulence. David composed 
his Psalms — the most marvellous interpreters of every human aspiration, exal- 
tation, want, and passion — with his sword in his hand; and the prophets always 
appear to ride upon a whirlwind. The power of Jerusalem over the world is as 
truly a literary one as that of Athens is one of Art." 

The visit to the Baumgartens gave rise to much thought and 
discussion among the ladies of the Remington party. 

" Why," asked Mrs. Remington, " should that strange Mrs. Baum- 
earten imagine that Bird desired to cut off all communication with 
us ? I think it very presuming in her to have any opinion in the 
matter, unless she knows Bird." 

" Perhaps she does know her," Violet suggested. " Mr. Baumgarten 
knows her father, and they are both friends of Baron Hirsch." 

" And I must say," replied Mrs. Remington, " that Mr. Orchard 
makes a very strange selection in his choice of friends. Why should 
he be on such intimate terms with Jews, unless — " 

Mrs. Remington paused ; but the conclusion of her sentence was 
so very evident that every one finished it mentally for himself and for 
herself, — 

" Unless he is a Jew." 

" He is a Jew," thought Violet, " and that explains everything, — all 
the strange ways and remarks which used to trouble me so in dear 
Bird. She is a Jewess, and she has left us because she feels that we 
should dislike her if we knew it. Oh, how I wish that I could find 
her and tell her how mistaken she is, and that we all sympathize with 
her, and love her the more for the trials which she must have had to 
endure on this account." Then Violet thought of her mother, and 
looked at her. Would this have been true of her ? And the feeling 
that it would not, choked back the announcement of her conviction as 
it sprang to her lips. 

A similar train of thought had passed through Emma's mind: 
" Bird is a Jewess. Well, that ends any possibility of a marriage 



JERUSALEM. ^3 

between her and Frank. It is rather a pity; for I believe they love 
each other, and that the knowledge of her ancestry would make no 
difference to him ; but his parents would never consent to such a 
marriage if they knew the facts. They do not know them ; and if 
Bird reappears, as she is very likely to, she may keep up the deception, 
and the marriage take place after all, — unless I choose to tell — what 
I know. But do I really know anything? I only suspect that she is 
a Jewess ; it remains for me to find out whether my suspicions are 
true. I know something which the others do not know: Bird has been 
in Jerusalem lately, — is very likely here now. That was her thimble 
which I recognized on the work-table. Now, how shall I go to work 
to collect my proofs ? " 

Even Mrs. Remington, somewhat dense and unreflecting as she 
was, had led herself by a series of chance guesses to the same conclusion. 
" Her father is a Jew. Dear me ! I hope not," was her first thought. 
" I shall never believe it unless it is completely proved. If it is so, I 
don't blame her for concealing the fact, as it would ruin all her 
prospects in society. I am sure I shall never lisp my suspicions to 
any one. How fortunate that I did not finish my sentence ; but Violet 
would never credit such a thing, and Emma is too obtuse to guess it. 
I am very sorry for the poor child, for I was growing very fond of her, 
and fancied that she might make a more agreeable daughter-in-law 
than Emma. It was very nice and considerate in her to run away 
before Frank became deeply interested in her. Poor child, after all 
it is not her fault that her father is a Jew, any more than if he had 
been a forger or a lunatic, or very illiterate, or otherwise unpresent- 
able. Children cannot be held to be strictly responsible for their 
parents ; and as long as he kept himself in the background she need 
not have been so morbidly sensitive. I wonder what kind of a Jew he 
is? A man of great learning like Frank's venerable friend, the senior 
Baumgarten, would not be so very objectionable, or a Jew of great 
wealth, like the Rothschilds, or of social position, like Disraeli ; but 

13 



194 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

fancy just a common, ordinary, mercenary creature like Mr. Shear 
Baumgarten ! But such origin for Bird is of course impossible; she has 
a great deal of distinction. Dear me, dear me, it is all very vexatious ! 
But, then, very likely it is not true. I don't really know anything ; and 
even though I am positive that I have guessed the truth, it is only 

a guess after all, and I need not admit it as a fact even to myself, far 

less to any one else. I shall never believe it of her without the most 
incontestable proofs, and no one is likely to set them in array before 
me, — indeed, I should like to see them do it! No, if Bird is found, 
and if dear Frank should happen to become interested in her, I will be 
just a little blind, provided no one else knows. I really think I could 
forgive it." 

But Bird was not found. The days crept on, and brought no 
trace of her to Frank, who had not even as much light in regard to 
the cause of her disappearance as had come to Mrs. Remington. 
Emma, and Violet. He said to himself that he had relinquished all 
hope, — that there was nothing left for him but to endure his disap- 
pointment as manfully as he could ; yet there were moments when it 
seemed to him that she must be mistaken. It could not be as impos- 
sible as she thought. If he could only see Mr. Orchard it might 
all be right. 

One day a Turkish lady passed him, whose melancholy but beauti- 
ful eyes, and whose face, so far as he could see it through her veil, 
reminded him startlingly of Bird. He went to the Baumgartens' again,' 
attracted by some magnetism which he did not himself understand,' 
and asked when Mr. Orchard would be in Jerusalem. Mr. Baumgarten 
was not encouraging; Mr. Orchards plans did not seem to*be at 
all known to him. He could not tell when he would be in the city or 
give any address to which letters could be sent ; but he talked long 
with the young man about his own plans and prospects in life. Frank 
told him that he was so fond of Syria that he might remain in the 
country after his parents' return. " I want to take a course in the 




HEAD-DRESS OF A TURKISH WOMAN OF JERUSALEM. 



JERUSALEM. 1 97 

School of Biblical Archaeology and Philology, established in connec- 
tion with the Protestant College at Beirut," he explained. 

" What is zat ? " asked Mr. Baumgarten. 

" The college itself is for the young men of Syria. It has three 
departments, — preparatory, collegiate, and medical." 

" Oh, yes, I know a good many doctors who graduate zere ; I 
know Salim Daud, who had charge of ze Jewish Dispensary at 
Tiberias, and I know Ishander Dablak, ze Physician of ze London 
Jews' Society at Hebron. It is a good college. But what are you 
QT>ino- to do zere ? " 

He seemed strangely interested for a mere acquaintance, and 
Frank confided his plans. 

" I should like to remain and make Syria my home, if I can find 
some work, either philanthropic or educational, where I can be of 
service. The college provides facilities, in this department of which 
I was speaking, where American students can learn the Oriental lan- 
guages, and for the ' exploration of the geography, archaeology, natural 
history, ethnology, and religions of the East.' I want to perfect myself 
in these lines, and in Biblical scholarship ; and I should like nothing 
better than to become some day a professor in that college." 

Mr. Baumgarten looked at him quizzically. " I wonder, now, 
whether you make anysing bractical," he said. " Great many young 
men, they dream and they dream, zoze great sings they going to do 
some day, and bime by they don't do nossings already. I don't like 
no loafers. When you make yourself one brofessor wiz one good 
salary, then young man you come see me again, ain't it ? " 

Frank could not see just why he should come to Mr. Baumgarten 
again at all, but he thanked him for his good will, and turned away 
rather sadly, having been told that Mrs. Baumgarten was not at home. 
Mr. Baumgarten called him back. 

" If you want to write Mr. Orchard," he said, " you might leave me 
zose letter. I try find zose address." 



I98 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

It was a forlorn hope, but Frank clutched at it, and hurrying home 
poured out his soul in a passionate appeal both to Bird and her 
father; returning, he left both letters in Mr. Baumgarten's care. 

" Young man," said Mr. Baumgarten, as Frank was leaving, " I tell 
you one secret maybe you don't know already : zat man Orchard 
was a Jew." Mr. Baumgarten thought that Frank would be startled, 
and he was. He had never thought of this ; and it meant so many 
things. In the first place, why could not Bird have confided in him. 
The deceit on her part pained him. Then his parents' prejudice, and 
probable disapproval, came crowding to the front ; then the compre- 
hension that this was why she had fled from him, and a realiza- 
tion that it was all a slight matter compared with his own great love 
for her. He stood silent, his face betraying nothing of his thought, 
only that strong emotions of some kind were surging within. 

" See here, young man," said Mr. Baumgarten. " You don't say 
nossings. If what I tell you make some difference wiz what you 
write Mr. Orchard, better you take ze letters back." 

" It makes no difference," Frank replied, — " no difference whatever." 

Mr. Baumgarten could scarcely wait for Frank to retire before 
reading the letter. " Well now, zat was one nice young man," he 
said to himself. " It is one pity Zipporah she don't like him. But 
then he was not bractical. Such weddings only . makes trouble. 
Zipporah she decide right when she give up zose Christian ways. 
It was not bractical." 




CHAPTER IX. 

BETHLEHEM. — EASTER CEREMONIES IN JERUSALEM. 

>HE more Shear Baumgarten reflected, the 
more discontented he became. He was 
troubled for his daughter's future, and 
vexed because everything seemed just 
now to go contrary to his expectations 
and wishes. It was certainly pleasant 
that Zipporah, as he had begun again to 
call Bird, loved her father and mother so 
much that she could not bear this un- 
natural separation, and had given up all her prospects for a new life in 
America for their sakes. Still, flattering as this was, he asked him- 
self if, from a worldly-wise point of view, it was not a mistake. What 
had he to offer her here ? 

He was obliged to confess to himself that Jerusalem had not given 
him what he had expected. Hitherto he had been ambitious of 
money-making ; Jerusalem only afforded a scope for spending money, 
with no hope of return. He had grown to like the ease and comforts 
of modern civilization. None of these were to be had in Jerusalem. 
The streets were filthy and offensive. He must travel everywhere on 
horseback, and he much preferred a carriage. A house in the Jewish 
quarter, even with every alleviation that money could procure, was 
not nearly so comfortable as a much cheaper house in New York. 
He missed the electric lights, the elevators, the telephone, steam-heat, 



200 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

the pleasures of the table, the daily newspapers, the musical privileges, 
rapid transit, and the thousand and one conveniences and amenities of 
American life. He had become accustomed to these, and he was 
crowing: older now ; he had reached that a°;e when a man feels that he 
has earned ease, and may give it to himself. But a new capacity of 
delight had awakened in Shear Baumgarten's soul, — the enjoyment 
which comes from giving comfort to others. He saw so many about him 
suffering cruelly whom he was able to bless, and he enjoyed the com- 
fort which he gave far more keenly than if he appropriated it to 
himself. The delight was all the more vivid that it was a novel 
experience. 

All of his old shrewd financiering and business ability was now 
turned into vast schemes for gathering and dispensing the contri- 
butions of wealthy and benevolent Hebrews, to aid their distressed 
brethren in Palestine. Much to the astonishment of every one who 
knew him, and to his own surprise none the less, Shear Baumgarten 
had blossomed into a philanthropist, — not an impractical, unsuccess- 
ful theorist, whose sentimental schemes would end in smoke. Shear 
was "bractical " even in his charities; and he was backed by men as 
shrewd and more wealthy than himself. There was indeed no fear 
that Baumgarten & Co. would become bankrupts. 

This was all very well for himself. Jerusalem was a place with 
work in it for him, and a fondly anticipated grave for his father ; and 
wherever they were his faithful wife would choose to be. But for the 
younger generation ? His son had solved the problem for himself, 
and as he thought for Zipporah ; but now that she had come back, it 
still remained to be puzzled out. What must be the life of this bril- 
liant, beautiful girl, whom he loved with his entire soul, and for whom 
no sacrifice on his part seemed great enough ? 

Why could she not return the affection of this young man to 
whom her father, her mother, and her grandfather were so strongly 
drawn ? The answer was evident. In some way the prejudice of the 



BETHLEHEM. 201 

Remingtons had wounded her feelings, — she had admitted as much ; 
and she had begged that they might never know her ancestry. She 
would be much displeased if she knew that he had betrayed it ; and 
yet, would she not be glad to know that Frank's affection had stood 
the test ? Most certainly, if she cared for him. Why would not girls 
be open-hearted, and let one know the true state of their feelings, — 
it would be so much simpler for every one concerned. 

While Shear Baumgarten meditated, his daughter tripped into the 
room and leaning on the back of his seat, asked, " What are you 
thinking about, little father? " 

" I am zinking zat I haf one letter for you from zat Reming- 
ton fellow." 

Bird caught it eagerly, and her father ambled away to allow her to 
read it alone. 

Bird was over-wrought. She had heard Frank's voice, and it was 
very hard not to run in and greet him in the old pleasant fashion. 
She opened his letter with trembling ringers, and read his passionate 
appeal through streaming tears. 

" I cannot bear it! Oh, I cannot bear it!" she cried, and buried 
her face in the cushions of the divan. 

" What for you bear it anyhow ? " asked a kindly voice above her, 
and looking up she saw her father regarding her through his specta- 
cles like a compassionate owl. She straightened herself instantly and 
dashed the tears from her eyes ; but she had betrayed herself, and the 
words could not be recalled. 

" Zipporah," said her father, gravely, " I don't want no nonsense. 
Zat young man luffs you, and you luff him. Now, why is n't zat all 
right ? " 

" It is the old story, Father. They would despise me if they knew 
I were a Jewess; and I will not deceive them." 

" What for you deceive them, then ? Tell them ze truth, and see 
what they do. Zat young man will not despise you. He don't de- 
spise us already." 



202 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

" I know that Frank would say that it made no difference, that 
he would not care a particle, — but the others! I know how Mrs. 
Remington would look ; and if I saw her look scornfully at you or at 
the mention of your name, I should want to kill her." 

" Ho ! " said Mr. Baumgarten, slowly, " so it is ze old lady. Well, 
I would n't take bride in what she says. She is n't so very schmart, 
anyway." 

" She is Frank's mother." 

Shear Baumgarten's fingers clinched, and he strode away and 
looked out at the court. "I'll fix zat old lady," he said to himself; 
and aloud as he turned to his daughter again : " Zipporah, it takes 
more as luff to make peoples happy together. What you going to do 
'bout religion ? " 

" I am no Jewess in faith, Father. I really believe that Christ may 
have been our Messiah, — only the Christianity of to-day is very differ- 
ent from the religion which he taught." 

" I don't know," said Shear ; " I don't know about his being ze 
Messiah. I don't believe God would let his people make such a mis- 
take as zat; but he was a great prophet, like Hillel, and he was a Jew. 
I don't find no fault wiz him, but only wiz Christians. Haf you 
told zis young man what you zink ? " 

" We have only talked of our differences ; he does not know how 
nearly alike we believe. I have quarrelled with him, and provoked 
him, and made contradictory statements, just to see what he would 
say ; and he has always been most kind and considerate. ' Let us 
respect each other's opinions and be content to differ,' was what he 
would always say." 

" Then I guess zat will be all right," Shear Baumgarten replied 
cheerfully ; " I guess you are pretty near one good Christian girl 
already. Well, I eggspect zat when I let you leave us — Zat is all 
right. ' Ze old order changes.' I cannot believe like my fader; you 
cannot believe as me. Ze good God he know our hearts. He 



BETHLEHEM. 2 OX 

know his children effery time. But better you write and tell him ze 
truth, ain't it ? " 

" No, no ! " Bird replied vehemently ; " it can never be. You do not 
know Mrs. Remington's pride. Let me drop out of their lives. I 
cannot humiliate myself to them. And Frank, too, though he 
would forgive me for what I cannot help, would not forgive my 
deceit." 

"Then better you get out of zat deceit right off pretty quick. It 
was all my mistake, Zipporah. I will go tell ze young man all about 
it." 

" No, no ! " Bird protested ; and her father, seeing that he only pained 
her, let the matter drop. He was not without hope that time would 
mend matters, and he went away to his little office to puzzle over the 
matter, and to contrive some plan which would aid in the solution of 
the problem. 

Circumstances aided him, as we shall see. There still remained a 
week before Easter ; and as the Remingtons had explored the principal 
places of interest in Jerusalem, they decided to prepare themselves for 
their long journey to Damascus by a series of shorter excursions in 
the neighborhood of Jerusalem. 

Mohammed had procured the tents and horses, and all the equi- 
page necessary for the longer tour, and it was agreed that it would be 
a good plan to test it before they found themselves beyond the. possi- 
bility of making changes or supplying deficiences. 

The first excursion decided upon was a two days' trip to Bethlehem 
and Hebron. 

There were many delays in getting the train together for the first 
time, and it was nightfall when they reached Rachel's Tomb, near 
Bethlehem. 

They found the spot marked by a square white building with a 
dome shaped roof. 

Dr. Prime says of the site : — 



204 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



" Here the tents of Israel were pitched in the centuries long gone, and here 
the dying Rachel gave birth to the beloved Benjamin. Close by her couch, on 
the one side, was the hill on which her children would build the great city, — 
Jerusalem. Close by her, on the other side, was the hill on which the village 
would be built, from which would come the Saviour of Israel. The mother of a 
mighty race lay down in that ground and slept peacefully, serenely, century 



'f=^==L. = 


j=z~~=lR 


V 





RACHELS SEPULCHRE. 



after century, nor have men ever disturbed her repose. We gathered flowers 
close by the tomb, — the delicate anemone, and starry flowers that might have 
sprung from the blue eyes of the beloved of the old man Jacob." 

The Bible account is brief but graphic : — 

And they journeyed from Bethel ; and there was but a little way to come to 
Ephrath. . . . And Rachel died and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is 
Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave, that is the pillar of Rachel's 
grave unto this day. — Genesis xxxv. 16-20. 

Here the tents had arrived before them, and they had agreed to 
make their camp, not entering the town until the morning. Their 



BETHLEHEM. 



205 



cook proved to be an excellent one. His name was Khowaja, and 
Violet ascertained that he was a native of northern Syria, and was 
endeavoring to work his way back in order to attend the college at 
Beirut. Although a nominal Christian he was very superstitious. 
Learning that Mrs. Remington was not strong, and that the ride from 
Jerusalem on the hard trotting animal which Mohammed had provided 
for her wearied her excessively, he was most assiduous preparing for 
her some mulled Lebanon wine, which proved an excellent restorative. 
He suggested respectfully to Violet that her mother would be perfectly 
restored to sound health if she would only try the " pillow remedy." 
" What is that ? " Violet asked, and Khowaja explained that if any one 
threatened with disease wished to escape, he or she must go to a ceme- 
tery in the evening and say, " Good-evening, ye who never say ' good- 
evening.' Lend me a pillow; your guest has come to visit me." The 
invalid must then carry home a stone from the burying-ground and 
use it as a pillow. In the morning the stone must be taken back and 
this formula repeated, " Good-morning, ye who never say ' good-morn- 
ing.' Take your pillow ; your guest has left." 

" If your lady mother will do this," said Khowaja, " all evil disease 
will be warded off." 

" Mother wears a little amulet now that was given her in the 
desert. I think that will do in the way of charms, though perhaps its 
efficacy may be affected by the fact that we do not believe in it." 

" But the young lady wears an amulet also," said Khowaja, pointing 
to her bangle. " Is it to keep off the evil eye ? " 

" No, indeed ! As I told you, I have no faith in such things. I 
only wear it because a friend gave it to me." 

" Then it is to keep the evil eye from your friend, who will be safe 
while you wear it, is it not ? " 

Violet shook her head, persisting that it was from no belief in 
magic whatever that she wore the amulet. As she protested she 
glanced at the bangle, and was surprised to see that she had lost the 



206 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

turquoise. In spite of herself she could not repress the thought, " I 
wonder whether in the omens of magic this means that something 
has happened to Captain Blakeslee ? " Then she scolded herself for 
her superstition, and put the matter from her mind. She thought 
enough of the incident, however, to record it in her journal with the 
date, April ioth. 

That evening they paid a brief visit to the tomb of Rachel. Kubbet 
Rahil, the ' Dome of Rachel," as Mohammed called it, is a small white 
building with an arched entrance and a domed roof. It is revered 
alike by Jew, Mahometan, and Christian, and has been restored by 
all three at different periods; Sir Moses Montefiore has been the last 
to put it in order. As they were entering, Khowaja handed Mrs. 
Remington a stone from a pile of debris and asked her to repeat a 
few Arabic words after him. Violet comprehended that he was trying 
his charm, and when Mrs. Remington demurred, she said coaxingly, — 
" If it will please the good-hearted fellow, please do it, Mamma. It 
can do no harm." Mrs. Remington complied, and Khowaja grinned 
from ear to ear. 

The country near Bethlehem, and the town itself, is so well 
described by Dean Stanley that we cannot do better here than to 
refer to his description : — 

" The region south of Jerusalem is the ' hill country of Judaea,' and dis- 
plays many rounded hills with ruins of walled towns and fortresses on their 
summits, and vineyards on their slopes with watch-towers in their midst. This 
was the region in which the patriarchs lived. In these mountain fastnesses the 
Hebrews dwelt safely during the time of the Judges, and later it was to. the 
caverns of these hills that David fled with his band of outlaws." 

Bethlehem is spoken of by Stanley as a good example of these 
"fenced cities of Judah." 

" Its position on the narrow ridge of the long, gray hill, which would leave 
no room for crowded travellers to find shelter ; the corn-fields below, the scene of 
Ruth's adventure, and from which it derives its name, — "the house of bread; " 



BETHLEHEM. 



207 



the well close by the gate, for whose water David longed ; the wild hills east- 
ward, where the flocks of David, and of the ' shepherds abiding with their 
flocks by night ' may have wandered, — all of these features are such as it shares 
with every village of Judah." 

The great pile of the convents and Church of the Nativity was at 
once recognizable. The church is shared by three sects, — the Arme- 
nians, the Greeks, and the Roman Catholics, — whose three convents 
are built so as to communicate with it. The main part of the church 




CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY AT BETHLEHEM. 

is bare and uninteresting ; but beneath the church is a subterranean 
chapel, dimly lighted with silver lamps, containing two niches nearly 
opposite each other. In one of these Christ is said to have been born. 
A silver star marks the spot, and over it hang sixteen silver lamps, — 
six belonging to the Greeks and five to each of the other sects. In 
the other niche the sacred manger is supposed to have been discovered. 
Quarrels sometimes take place between the adherents of the different 
faiths, and Turkish guards are stationed here to keep the peace. 

" How much of all this tradition do you imagine is true ? " Violet 
asked. 

" We cannot say,'' Frank replied, ; ' we only know that so early as 
the second century this cave was supposed to have been the stable 
where Christ was born. The convent was founded by Saint Jerome, 
who came to reside here as a hermit, and remained here for more than 
thirty years, gathering other hermits about the spot in which he so 
devoutly believed, and founding conventual life in the Holy Land." 



208 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

The monks showed the cell in which the saint fasted and prayed 
and studied; and the visitors passed out of the convent into the 
narrow streets of the little town. 

" It seems quite as if we had been celebrating Christmas," Violet 
said ; but all sentiment was speedily driven away by an onslaught of 
pedlers who endeavored to sell them little articles inlaid with mother- 
of-pearl, and carved crucifixes and rosaries. The women of Bethlehem 
wore peculiar and picturesque gowns of dark blue cotton cloth, 
embroidered with red. Violet bought one of them at the little bazaar, 
and then they descended the hill and lunched beside David's well, — 
the one from which he so longed to drink, but would not because 
the water was brought at the peril of his friends' lives. 

Later in the afternoon the little caravan broke camp, and they 
started for Hebron, farther in the south country. 

As they were leaving, Khowaja drew Violet aside, mysteriously, 
and asked, " What have you done with the pillow ? " . 

" Nothing," Violet replied. " What do you mean ? " 

" Only that I placed the stone from the Kubbet Rahil under the 
pillow of Madame ; and this morning when I went to return it, behold 
it had dissolved." 

" Perhaps Mother did not like sleeping with a stone for a pillow, 
like Jacob, and threw it away. I will ask her." 

But there was no time to do so just then, for Mohammed was 
assisting Mrs. Remington to mount. 

None of the travellers were quite pleased with their horses. Violet's 
had a bad habit of shying, Frank's was hard in the mouth, Mr. Rem- 
ington's was a sorry nag ready to drop with exhaustion, and Emma's 
stumbled alarmingly. But Mrs. Remington was the only one who 
found hers absolutely unendurable, and a halt was called when only a 
few miles from the town. It was decided that they must return to 
Jerusalem and procure better animals. They had not proceeded far 
in this direction when they met Shear Baumgarten pacing sedately 




A WOMAN OF BETHLEHEM. 



BETHLEHEM. 211 

along on a handsome palfrey, followed by a servant leading a train of 
five laden pack horses. Frank explained their plight, and Shear imme- 
diately offered to exchange horses. It seemed a most fortunate coin- 
cidence that all of Shear's were fine specimens, — much better than are 
usually put to the service which they were performing. Violet's saddle 
was removed to a finely built Arabian horse, delicate and graceful ; 
Frank was given a heavy bay, sound and fleet; Mr. Remington was 
transferred to a gentle, easy-paced white horse ; Emma received a 
plucky little pony ; and Mr. Baumgarten insisted that Mrs. Remington 
should use his own gentle gray mare. He tightened the girth himself, 
and assisted the lady to mount with great gallantry. 

" But what are we to pay for all this ? " Mr. Remington asked ; 
for he had his theory about not entering upon business transac- 
tions, especially with Jews, without making a definite bargain in 
advance. 

Mr. Baumgarten explained that he was on his way to Hebron, to 
carry provisions to some suffering Jewish families in the south of 
Palestine, and that as they had the same destination, the exchange of 
beasts need only be made until they reached that point, and should be 
without money and without price. His servant transferred the packs 
to the animals which the Remingtons had lately ridden, and they 
proceeded on their journey in company. 

Mr. Baumgarten quietly took his position by Mrs. Remington's 
side. He proved an excellent guide ; for all this country was well 
known to him, and he talked about it very entertainingly. 

They were constantly reminded of David, for this was David's land, 
— his home as a boy, and over to the west was Adullam, and to the east 
was Engedi. The fastnesses in rocks which gave him a shelter during 
the persecution of Saul lie between and beyond. They passed several 
caves which might have hidden his band of outlaws. 

" If Bird were only with us," said Mrs. Remington, " she would 
write us up a romance founded on the life of David as interesting as 



2 12 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

her Moses and Joseph legends. Why don't you girls try your hand at 
it ; I am sure the material is just as suggestive." 

" The exile period or David's life was certainly more romantic than 
any other," Emma replied, " and I have been looking it up in anticipa- 
tion of this trip. I cannot write romances as Bird does, but I love to 
compile, — to bring together what has been written, and make one author 
serve as a commentator to another. I believe I would make a good 
editor. You know David really wrote his own autobiography in the 
Psalms, and with the record which we have in the historical books we 
can trace with great probability the occasions and places where they 
were written. I have been aided in my researches by a little book 
entitled ' The Life of David as Reflected in his Psalms,' written by 
Alexander Maclaren. While in Jerusalem I made a few notes relating 
to the region through which we are to journey to-day, which I will read 
you at our luncheon if you like." 

Mr. Baumgarten was pleased to find that Bird was kindly remem- 
bered and her absence regretted. He pointed out all the spots associ- 
ated with David's exploits, and related some interesting Talmudic 
legends. He spoke too of Rachel's tomb, which they had lately seen, 
and said that the Rabbi Pethacin related that a stone removed from 
it would miraculously find its way back again. 

Violet started at the mention of the miracle. She would have liked 
to have gone back and hunted for the pillow-stone. A moment later 
Mrs. Remington explained the mystery by remarking, " I think one of 
those returning stones must have found its way by mistake into my 
tent, for I found one under my pillow. I assisted it on its journey, for 
I threw it in the morning at one of those savage-looking dogs that was 
skulking about the camp." 

Mohammed had chosen a cave in the side of an overhanging cliff 
for their noon-day rest. A little stream trickled from a spring which 
welled at its side. If the cave had only extended more deeply into the 
hill it might have served to represent Adullam. 



BETHLEHEM. 



213 



" Mr. Maclaren observes," said Emma, " that the general characteris- 
tics of the Psalms attributed to David's exile are the same. The 
scenery and life of the wilds are reflected in their imagery. He de- 
scribes his enemies as wild beasts, and himself as a poor hunted crea- 




ENTRANCE TO CAVE OF AUULLAM. 



ture amongst pits and snares. : Their confidence in God, too, has in it 
a ring of joyousness that went with him through all the desperate 
adventures and hair-breadth escapes of the Sauline persecution. We 
see him in the first flush of his manhood, — somewhere about five-and- 
twenty years old, — fronting perils of which he is fully conscious, with 
calm strength and an enthusiasm of trust that lifts his spirit above 
them all.' 



214 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

" David fled to Adullam, whence he could look down over the vast 
sweep of the rich Philistine country. Gath lay at his feet ; close by 
was the valley where he had killed Goliath. There he gathers his 
band of four hundred desperate men, whom poverty and misery, and 
probably the King's growing tyranny, drove to flight. They were wild, 
rough soldiers, according to the picturesque description, ' whose faces 
were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the 
mountains.' " 

Frank turned to i Samuel xxii. i, 2, and read the account of the 
gathering of the outlaws at Adullam, and Violet asked what psalm 
was written in this Ali Baba's cave. 

" The thirty-fourth," Emma replied. " It is full of exhortation 
and counsel to the desperate men under his guidance. If they 
followed its admonitions they must have been even gentler outlaws 
than Robin Hood." 

Mr. Baumgarten immediately recited the psalm, and Mr. Reming- 
ton remarked. " These are indeed remarkable sentiments for a band 
of political refugees. ' Depart from evil and do good ; seek peace and 
pursue it.' As you say, the references to wild beasts come in with 
vivid appropriateness, when one realizes that their cave had probably 
been the lair of some of the gaunt lions whom they could see slink- 
ing about among the rocks, waiting for a chance to fall upon one of 
the intruders who had dislodged them from their den. Listen : 
' The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger ; but they that seek the 
Lord shall not want any good thing.' " 

" We don't haf no lions now," said Mr. Baumgarten, " but I 
haf shot wolves in zeze mountains ; I could tell you some stories, 
but I won't make no interruptions. Zat was one grand psalm. 
What you zink of zat verse, ' Ze Angel of ze Lord encampeth 
round about them zat fear him, and delivereth them'? Zere 
was no fear to David for reinforcements wiz one reserve guard 
like zat" 



BETHLEHEM. 21 5 

" To notice a minor touch," said Frank. " David would not have 
used that term ' encampeth ' if he himself had not been in camp. It is 
a true picture of the bivouac, c round the glimmering watch-fires 
beneath the lucid stars.' " 

" In like manner, 1 ' said Emma, " I have traced the psalms attributed 
to Eno-edi, — the cliffs of the wild goats, where David spared Saul's life 
when he had him in his power. Can we not take in Engedi on our 
return from Hebron ? " 

" I think not," replied Frank ; " it lies in the midst of almost inac- 
cessible mountains. It would necessitate very rough travelling. What 
does your author say about it which interests you so much in the 

locality ? " 

« Only that, fleeing from Saul, David left Adullam, and after various 
adventures made his way to the inhospitable wilderness which stretches 
from the hills of Judah to the Dead Sea, and skulked there in ' lurking- 
places ' among the crags. He made his headquarters, as we would say, 
in a little plain which slopes to the Dead Sea, and is fortified by a natu- 
ral amphitheatre of savage cliffs. The plain is covered with luxurious 
vegetation; the vine, the fig-trees, canes, and maiden-hair ferns festoon 
the rocks, down which a slender waterfall dashes. This is the fountain 
and plain of Engedi, and the ibex still haunt the plain and the crags 
as they did when they first gave the spot its name." 

All of their journey that day was through this interesting outlaw 
region, and at night they camped near the ancient city of Hebron. 

Mr. Baumgarten took from his saddle-bags some English news- 
papers of a later date than they had yet seen, and they interested them- 
selves in reading the news from the outside world. Mrs. Remington 
quickly pounced upon a personal which pleased her greatly. Captain 
Blakeslee was reported as making explorations in Petra, which were 
expected to be of great interest ; and a certain noble lord was said to 
be on his way to Beirut where he hoped to meet Captain Blakeslee on 
his return from Petra, and to persuade him to take command of an 



2i6 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

expedition to Baalbec. Other explorations of the young Captain were 
spoken of with great praise, and a brilliant career predicted for him. 

Mrs. Remington was delighted. " We shall meet Captain Blakeslee 
without doubt at Beirut," she said, " for though he has not yet reached 
Jerusalem he will probably proceed to Beirut by steamer from Jaffa ; 
and as we loiter along by land he may even reach that point 
before us." 

Mr. Baumgarten noticed her enthusiasm, and led her to talk of the 
young explorer. Mrs. Remington praised him in unmeasured terms, 
and assured Mr. Baumgarten that if he could ever confer a favor on 
Captain Blakeslee or on Dr. Trotter, it would be received as done to 
herself. Violet was silent, but her eyes were eloquent. 

The next morning they walked through the town and saw the 
exterior of the great mosque which covers the cave of Machpelah. 
They were not permitted to enter the mosque, but Violet made a rapid 
sketch of it, the others shielding her while they bargained with some 
fruit sellers for dried apricots and dates. Hebron is one of the oldest 
cities in Palestine. The Hittites lived here when Abraham camped 
in the plain of Mam re ; and when Sarah died, Abraham " stood up and 
spoke to the children of Heth and said, 'I am a stranger and sojour- 
ner with you ; give me a possession of a burial-place with you, that I 
may bury my dead out of my sight.' ' Here the patriarch himself was 
buried after his wanderings ; and his grandson Jacob, dying in Egypt, 
far from the family tomb, charged his sons, and said, — "I am to be 
gathered unto my people : bury me with my fathers ... in the cave 
that is in the field of Machpelah . . . which Abraham bought ... for a 
possession of a burying-place. There they buried Abraham, and Sarah 
his wife ; there they buried Isaac, and Rebekah his wife ; and there I 
buried Leah. . . . And when Jacob had made an end of commanding 
his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, 
and was gathered unto his people." In obedience to this command 
hither came the funeral train from Egypt, bearing the mummy of Jacob, 



BETHLEHEM. 217 

which the princely Yusouf had brought with " all the elders of the 
land of Egypt," for " there went up with him both chariots and horse- 
men ; and it was a very great company." It was one of the most 
famous of funerals, and when the inhabitants of the land saw it they 
said, " This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians." 

A grander procession was granted to Joseph himself, for Moses 
caused the coffin of the great vice-regent to be carried, through all 
that forty years wandering through the desert, to the Promised Land ; 
for Joseph had said, " God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up 
my bones with you." Violet thought it strange that Joseph had not 
been buried with his ancestors ; but Frank explained that the children 
of Israel entered Palestine farther north, and promised that they 
should see Joseph's tomb at Shechem. 

Mr. Baumgarten told them that Benjamin of Tudela who visited 
the cave of Machpelah in 1163 wrote, — 

"The Gentiles or Christians have erected six sepulchres in this place, 
which they pretend to be those of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, 
Jacob and Leah. The pilgrims are told that they are the sepulchres of the 
fathers, and money is extorted from them. But if any Jew comes who gives 
an additional fee to the keeper of the cave, an iron door is opened, — which 
dates from the times of their forefathers, who rest in peace, — and with a burn- 
ing candle in his hands, the visitor descends into a first cave which is empty, 
traverses a second which is in the same state, and at last reaches a third 
which contains six sepulchres, — those of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of 
Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah, — one opposite the other. And you there see tubs 
(or arks) filled with bones of Israelites; for to this day it is a custom of the 
House of Israel to bring thither the bones of their forefathers and to leave 
them there." 

After inspecting the town the party were shown an ancient oak- 
tree in the vicinity, which Mohammed solemnly assured them was 
there in Abraham's time. As they turned northward again Moham- 
med pointed away to the south : " That is Mt. Hor," he said. " And 
Mt. Hor is almost in sight of Petra." Violet thought, " Captain Blakes- 



2l8 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

lee and I may be looking at the same object. It is time for him to 
be on his way ; for he expected to reach Jerusalem before Easter, and 
he may be nearer us than we think. How pleasant it would be if they 
should overtake us to-day." But Violet looked in vain for any caravan 
approaching from the south, and the next day they turned their faces 
northward. 

Mr. Baumgarten had been very kind to them during their stay in 
Hebron, giving them a little banquet in a house which he hired for 




ABRAHAMS OAK, NEAR HEBRON. 



the purpose, and filling their luncheon hampers with many good 
things for the return journey. More than this, he insisted on their 
keeping his horses for their trip through northern Palestine. Mr. 
Remington offered to purchase them, but Mr. Baumgarten would 
only accept a manifestly inadequate sum and the miserable beasts 
which he had taken in exchange. Mr. Remington could not under- 
stand such business dealings, but he was most favorably impressed by 
Mr. Baumgarten's kindness. Mrs. Remington too had much to say 
in his favor. 

" If only all Jews were like Mr. Baumgarten," she said, as they 



BETHLEHEM. 



219 



rode away, " I would not object to them at all. I even liked his 
funny broken English. I am sure he was a great deal easier to under- 
stand than that Polish count, Polo-whiskey." 

" Perhaps," suggested Frank, " the reason that you like Mr. Baum- 
garten better than other Hebrews is that you know him better. 
Don't you remember, you thought him a disagreeable man of the 
mercantile type when you first met him in Jaffa." 

"He is a very interesting man," Mrs. Remington insisted; "and 
how learned he is in all that abstruse literature." 

" He comes of a learned family," Frank replied. " His father is a 
great scholar ; but I fancy that he shines rather more as a financier." 

" He is good company," said Mr. Remington ; " as your mother says, 
if all of his people were like him there would be no prejudice against 
them." 

They had a long and rather fatiguing ride, returning to Jerusalem 
by the way of Solomon's Pools, which supply water to Jerusalem. 
They are three great tanks or reservoirs, and archaeologists think that 
Solomon probably had a country-seat and gardens here. A picturesque 
old Saracen castle stood near the upper pool, but they did not linger 
long, for a stormy evening was shutting down upon them from the 
north ; and a Syrian storm struck them when they were an hour's dis- 
tance from the city. They were thoroughly soaked when they reached 
their hotel ; but fresh clothing, hot foot-baths, and a good dinner re- 
stored them all to comfort and good humor. Even Mrs. Remington 
was none the worse for the trip the next day, and Khowaja's suggestion 
of a stone pillow from the graveyard seemed quite uncalled for. 

They had all visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Violet 
had walked through it several times. It was true that she did not 
believe the chapel, which is the chief object of adoration, really covered 
the rock-hewn sepulchre in which Christ was laid ; still she could not 
witness the real emotion shown by pilgrims who devoutly believed in 
it without a feeling of sympathy and respect. 



.2 20 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

The church is a vast aggregation of buildings, and covers some 
thirteen supposed sites of sacred places. In a little crypt at one end 
the Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine, believed that she dis- 
covered the true cross. Both the Latin and the Greek church share 
in the edifice, but they celebrate Easter on different days. It was the 
Greek Easter which the Remingtons saw, with its false miracle of the 
Sacred Fire. Instead of describing their experience, we will quote the 
account which Dean Stanley gives of the descent of the Sacred Fire 
at Easter. 

" The interior of the chapel [of the Sepulchre] is solemnly beautiful in the soft 
light of forty-three gold and silver lamps hung from chains, and shining through 
red, yellow, and green glass, — the colors marking the sects to which the lamps be- 
long; thirteen each for Franciscans, Greeks, and Armenians, and four for the 
Copts. 

"The chapel rises from a dense mass of pilgrims, who sit or stand wedged 
round it; whilst round them, and beneath another equally dense mass, which 
goes round the walls of the church itself, a lane is formed by two lines, or rather 
two circles, of Turkish soldiers stationed to keep order. About noon this circu- 
lar lane is suddenly broken through by a tangled group, rushing violently round 
till they are caught by one of the Turkish soldiers. It seems to be the belief 
of the Arab Greeks that unless they run round the sepulchre a certain number 
of times, the Fire will not come. Possibly also, there is some strange reminis- 
cence of the funeral games and races round the tomb of an ancient chief. 
Accordingly, the night before, and from this time forward for two hours, a suc- 
cession of gambols takes place, which an Englishman can only compare to a 
mixture of prisoner's base, foot-ball, and leap frog, round and round the tomb 
of the Holy Sepulchre, First, one sees twenty, thirty or fifty men starting in a 
run, catching hold of each other, lifting one of themselves on their shoulders, 
rushing on with him till he leaps off, and some one else succeeds ; some of them 
dressed in sheepskins, some almost naked ; one usually preceding the rest as 
fugleman, clapping his hands to which they respond in like manner, adding also 
wild howls of which the chief burden is, 'This is the tomb of Jesus Christ. 
God save the Sultan, Jesus Christ has redeemed us.' What begins in the lesser 
groups soon grows in magnitude and extent, till at last the whole of the circle 
between the troops is continuously occupied by a race, a whirl, a torrent of these 
wild figures wheeling round the sepulchre. Gradually the frenzy subsides, or 




TOMB OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 



BE THLEHEM. 223 

is checked; the course is cleared, and out of the Greek church on the east of 
the Rotunda a long procession with embroidered banners, supplying in their 
ritual the want of images, begins to defile round the sepulchre. Thrice the pro- 
cession paces round ; at the third time, the two lines of Turkish soldiers join and 
fall in behind. One great movement sways the multitude from side to side. 
The crisis of the day is now approaching. The presence of the Turks is be- 
lieved to prevent the descent of the Fire, and at this point they are driven, or 
consent to be driven, out of the church. In a moment the confusion as of a 
battle and a victory pervades the church. In one small but compact band, the 
Bishop, who represents the Patriarch, is hurried to the Chapel of the Sepulchre 
and the door is closed behind him. At last the moment comes. A bright 
flame as of burning wood appears within the hole (opening into the chapel), 
— kindled by the Bishop within, but as every pilgrim believes, the light of the 
descent of God himself upon the Holy Tomb. Any distinct feature or incident 
is lost in the universal whirl of excitement which envelopes the church, as slowly, 
gradually the Fire spreads from hand to hand, from taper to taper, through the 
vast multitude, till at last the whole edifice from gallery to gallery, and through 
the area below, is one wide blaze of thousands of burning candles. It is now 
that a mounted horseman, stationed at the gates of the church, gallops off with a 
lighted taper, to communicate the sacred fire to the lamps of the Greek Church 
in the convent at Bethlehem. It is now that the great rush, to escape from the 
rolling smoke and the suffocating heat, and to carry the lighted tapers into the 
streets and houses of Jerusalem, through the one entrance to the church, leads 
at times to the violent pressure which in 1834 cost the lives of hundreds. For 
a short time the pilgrims run to and fro, rubbing their faces and breasts against 
the fire, to attest its supposed harmlessness. But the wild enthusiasm terminates 
from the moment that the fire is communicated. Such is the Greek Easter." 




CHAPTER X. 

THE JOURNEY NORTHWARD. 

ND now the time had come when they must leave Jeru- 
salem. Mrs. Remington was piqued because Dr. Trot- 
ter and Captain Blakeslee had not arrived. She chose 
to consider herself slighted, and was certain that they 
could have hastened their journey if they had so de- 
sired. " They are simply more interested in old ruins and in the vesti- 
ges of the Amalekites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites than they are in 
our society," she affirmed, " and I do not propose to let them think 
that they are of enough consequence to our happiness for us to alter 
our plans on their account." 

Frank was sure that their delay was not intentional. " Dr. Trotter 
was very anxious to see the Easter ceremonies," he explained. " I trust 
that nothing has happened." 

His chance remark filled Violet with vague anxiety. What could 
have happened ? Sickness, accident far from friends ; in either case 
Dr. Trotter's skill was all that could be desired. There might have 
been trouble with their equipage or servants ; there were a thousand 
and one hindrances incident to travel of this kind which might have 
detained them, — a strayed baggage camel, a deserter among the servants, 
impassable fords, instruments lost for which it was necessary to 
return, delays in obtaining permission to visit desirable places, etc. 
She tried to comfort her heart with such explanations ; but she knew 
that Captain Blakeslee was as anxious to reach Jerusalem before 
Easter as she was to have him do so, and she was convinced that the 
delay was on account of no trifling incident. 



THE JOURNEY NORTHWARD. 



225 



The Remingtons had only been gone two days when a dusty Arab 
courier arrived in Jerusalem. He had ridden far and fast, and was 
the bearer of important letters, to the American consul and to Mr. 

Remington at the Mediterranean Hotel. 
When the courier delivered the letter, 
stating that it was from an English- 
man named Captain Blakeslee, the hotel 
clerk could only say that the 
Remingtons had left for Beirut, 
^r-pg j where they expected to ar- 
rive in two weeks. 

" Had they any friends 
in Jerusalem who might 
Kj know of their present 
whereabouts ? " 

" Yes, an old rabbi 
named Bariah Baum- 
fjjt garten who had been 
a friend and teacher of 
the young Mr. Rem- 
ington and came often 
to see him." 
The courier repaired at once to the home of the Baumgartens. 
" If there is any one here who can send this letter to Mr. Reming- 
ton," he said, " pray let him do so. The affair requires haste ; friends 
of theirs, Dr. Trotter and Captain Blakeslee, are in trouble." 

Bird heard the courier say this to her mother, and came forward at 
once, explaining that she was acquainted with both the gentlemen 
named. 

" Then read the letter," said the courier, " and tell me what answer 
I shall take back." 

Bird had already told her mother of Captain Blakeslee's attach- 

15 




ARAB CAMPS- 



2 26 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

ment to Violet, and the warm-hearted woman felt the deepest interest 
in the situation. The missive which they now read ran as follows : 

Dear Mr. Remington, — My uncle and I have been taken prisoners by a 
tribe of Bedouins, who demand a thousand pounds in ransom for us. They say 
that if the money is not sent them in two weeks' time they will cut off a finger 
and a toe from each of us for every day until it arrives. We have every reason 
to believe that they will carry out their threat, and that if they find that their 
torture is unavailing, that they will finally kill us. If you can possibly raise the 
money, I know you will do so. My uncle will of course see that you are reim- 
bursed as soon as he is at liberty. I do not think it will be of any use to bring 
soldiers and attempt to rescue us by force, as the bandits would simply kill us 
and fly into the desert. Frank had better come personally with simply a small 
guard, and the courier will conduct him to a spot where negotiations will be 
made. I enclose a note for Miss Violet. Do not be too much alarmed about 
us. All the rascals want is money ; if that is forthcoming I do not think we will 

be injured. 

Yours, Albert Blakeslee. 

" What a pity that your father is away in Hebron," said Mrs. 
Baumgarten. " I do not see zat we can do anysing eggscept to notify 
ze American consul here and forward zis letter to Beirut." 

" But mother ! " exclaimed Bird, " they would begin the torture before 
the Remingtons could respond to a letter sent in that way, and I do 
not believe that the consular agent can do anything. Some one must 
overtake Mr. Remington. They are loitering along, and a swift and 
trusty messenger would surely find them." 

The courier declined to undertake this task. He had been sent 
only to Jerusalem ; but he would wait a few days until Mr. Remington 
could be found. 

" Then I will follow them myself," said Bird, with sudden decision. 
" I will go with Daniel and Miriam." 

" But I thought you did not wish to see them again." 

" I did not ; but I must leave no stone unturned to save Captain 
Blakeslee's life. When I have found the Remingtons, I shall tell 






THE JOURNEY NORTHWARD. 



227 



Violet why I ran away from them. They will never want to see me 

again ; but I shall feel better to have them know all the truth." 
" Why go yourself when Daniel can take a letter ? " 
" Daniel is so stupid he may not be able to find them, while I feel 

as if I could tell the difference between the hoof-prints of their horses 

and those of any 

other travellers." 
Mrs. Baumgar- 

ten did not object, 

for she hoped the 

journey would 

have a different 

result from the 

one which her 

daughter antici- 
pated. Daniel 

was a muleteer 

who went to Naz- 
areth every month 

with a train of 

pack mules, and 

it so happened 

that he was to set 

out on one of 

these trips the 

next morning. 




MAIDEN OF PALESTINE. 



Miriam was Mrs. 

Baumgarten's maid-servant, who had followed her around the world, and 
would have done or suffered anything for her mistress. Miriam hur- 
riedly cooked provisions, while Mrs. Baumgarten saw the muleteer and 
made arrangements for saddle mules. Early the next morning they 
joined Daniel at the Damascus gate, and Mrs. Baumgarten gave her 
daughter her blessing and sent her on her way. 



228 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



Bird was three days behind the Remingtons, and she was not quite 
sure of their itinerary. She guessed however that they would be sure 
to visit Nazareth and Capernaum, and that the detours and delays 
which they would make upon the way, would be such that she would 
be able to overtake them at one of these places. 

Meantime the Remingtons journeyed serenely along, quite unaware 




JACOB'S WELL. 

of the desperate plight in which their friends lay away in the Arabian 
desert, except for the nameless uneasiness which Violet was unable to 
shake off or explain. 

They made a long day's journey, and stopped for their first night 
in the plain of Shechem, camping beside Jacob's Well, where Christ 
talked with the woman of Samaria. 

It was a beautiful spot, full of sacred associations ; and as they 
descended from the hills the first view reminded them of Stanley's 
description of the most beautiful of the plains of the Ephraimite 
Mountains, — one mass of corn, unbroken by boundary or hedge, from 
the midst of which start up olive-trees. Over the hills which close 
the northern end of this plain, far away in the distance, is caught the 



THE JOURNEY NORTHWARD. 



229 



first glimpse of the snowy range of Hermon. Its western side is 
bounded by the abutments of two mountain-ranges, running from west 
to east. These ranges are Gerizim and Ebal ; and up the opening 
between them lies the modern town of Nablous. A valley, green 
with grass, gray with olives, gardens sloping down on each side, fresh 
springs rushing down in all directions ; at the end a white town 



~^~\ 





MOUNT HERMON. 



imbosomed in all this verdure, lodged between the two high moun- 
tains, — this is the aspect of Nablous, the most beautiful, perhaps it 
might be said the only very beautiful spot in central Palestine. 

Here Abraham halted on his way from Chaldea, and built the 
first altar which the Holy Land had known. He bought the parcel 
of the field where he had spread his tent, of the children of Hamor, 
for an hundred pieces of money. When the Israelites took possession 
of the Promised Land the blessings and the cursings were proclaimed 
from Gerizim and Ebal. In their humble svnagogue at the foot of the 
mountain, the Samaritans still worship, — the oldest and the smallest 
sect in the world. And up the side of the mountain is to be traced 



230 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

the pathway by which they ascend to the sacred spots where they 
yearly celebrate the Paschal Service. 

At the mouth of the Valley of Shechem two slight breaks are vis- 
ible in the midst of the vast plain of corn, — one a white Mussulman 
chapel; the other a few fragments of stone. The first of these covers 
the alleged tomb of Joseph; the second is Jacob's Well. 

The next morning the party visited Nablous, while Frank climbed 
to a white church on Mt. Gerizim. The spot was so charming that 
they did not leave that afternoon, as they had planned, but spent an- 
other night beside Jacob's Well. 

The next morning another party of tourists joined them, — a Mr. 
Barker and his two daughters whom they had met in Cairo. Such 
chance meetings in a strange country make slight acquaintances seem 
like old friends, and they welcomed the new-comers cordially. A few 
hours sufficed for the Barkers to survey the vicinity, and they rode on 
in company in the forenoon of the same day that Bird left Jerusalem. 

They rode easily, and at night when Bird was stopping at an inn 
at Nablous they were camping at Shunem, not very far away. Here 
the Remingtons and the Barkers parted company, the latter turning 
towards the right, to Tiberias, while the Remingtons diverged to the left. 
If they had gone straight on they would have reached Nazareth at 
noon, and Bird would have overtaken them at nightfall ; but the 
weather was so perfect, and they were enjoying their excursion so 
greatly, that when Mohammed proposed a detour taking in Haifa 
and Acre on the sea-coast, and returning to Nazareth by way of Cana, 
the plan was eagerly adopted. It would only lengthen the itinerary by 
two days, and all felt that a view of the Mediterranean would be re- 
freshing, while the vicinity of Acre and Haifa was one of the most 
fascinating fields in Palestine for the antiquarian and the historian. 

Bird rose very early and rode steadily on, her hope inspired by the 
information that she had obtained at Nablous in reference to the trav- 
ellers. They had left there only the day before. She was on their 



THE JOURNEY NORTHWARD. 



2\\ 



track, and would surely overtake them at Nazareth. She halted at 
Shunem for her midday meal, and bought some dates of a woman who 
had sold fruit to Frank Remington. She described the party so that 
Bird easily recognized the different individuals. " Yes, they had left 
Shunem that morning." 

" Probably for Nazareth ? " The woman did not know ; and Bird 
made her first divergence from their real route, hastening faster and 




SEA OF GALILEE. 



faster, farther and farther away from her friends. She reached Naza- 
reth late at night, utterly worn out with her rapid riding. As she ap- 
proached the town, she scanned the vicinity eagerly for any signs of 
a camp, and experienced a cold sinking of the heart when she saw 
only some Bedouins seated by their camp-fire in the suburbs, their 
striped tents arranged in a circle. 

Perhaps she would find them at the inn ; but here again she was 
disappointed. She had no appetite for supper, and though cruelly 
weary, could not sleep. Daniel made inquiries throughout the town ; 
the Remingtons were not there, and apparently had not been there. 
She was off the trail. What could she do ? every hour was precious. 
How could she guess in which direction they had gone ? 



22,2 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

Daniel, who felt a sincere pity for her distress, agreed to postpone 
his return to Jerusalem and to put himself at her disposal for a few 
days. Bird had no desire to visit the Chapel of the Annunciation, the 
Mount of Precipitation, and other equally doubtful sacred spots. Even if 
she had been convinced of their authenticity, another consuming desire 
possessed her now, and she would have had no time for pilgrimages of 
faith or curiosity. She tried to think what locality in the neighbor- 
hood would have the strongest attraction for her friends. Daniel said 
that tourists generally went from Nazareth to Tiberias, on the Sea of 
Galilee, and asked her if she had one of the little red guide-books 
which marked out the desirable routes. 

Bird knew what guide-book Frank would use, and she had brought 
his Testament with her. She opened it again and sought eagerly for 
names of localities in the vicinity. The Sea of Galilee occurred most 
frequently. Yes, she would go to Tiberias. The region bordering the 
Sea of Galilee is thickly sown with places which Christ visited, — Naza- 
reth, Cana, Capernaum, Chorazin, Bethsaida, the plain of Gennesaret, 
the Mount of Beatitudes; Frank would not fail to visit these. She read 
the little Testament with avidity at every pause in her journey, seek- 
ing for every trace of the wandering of the blessed feet ; and though she 
read, preoccupied, with this one purpose in view, the beauty of the life of 
the Wanderer smote her consciousness as never before. Again and 
again she said to herself : " No wonder that Frank loves and worships 
him ; if I had been brought up differently, I too would worship him.'' 

She could not find that Christ had ever visited the city of Tiberias. 
In his day it was a new and elegant resort of the Roman nobility, — a 
summer watering-place like our Newport, built by the younger Herod 
and his brother Philip, in imitation possibly of the splendid Roman 
villas along the shores of the Lucrine Lake. The hot springs doubt- 
less decided the site, and the new pleasure city was named for the 
emperor. Christ's mission was not to the rich and pampered, and he 
would naturally avoid this haunt of fashion and luxury. 

The city is still picturesque from a distance, with its white walls 



THE JOURNEY NORTHWARD. 



233 



its ten round towers on the west, five on the north, and eight on the 
south ; but it was indescribably filthy within. Even the warm baths, 
which she visited simply in her quest, were rendered disgusting by the 
presence of lepers, and others afflicted with almost equally loathsome 
diseases. 






HILLS OVERLOOKING THE SEA OF GALILEE. 

Bird felt sure that her friends would wish to sail upon the lake. 
On inquiry she ascertained that there were only two sailing-boats 
in Tiberias, and one had been engaged the day before to take a party 
around the lake. Bird immediately engaged the second boat, and de- 
termined to sail in the opposite direction, hoping to meet the first 
one. The description of the tourists was vague enough to fit the 
Remingtons. There were several ladies in the party, one old gentle- 
man and a Turkish dragoman. 



2-4 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

The Sea of Galilee is only twelve miles long and six wide. It is 
pear-shaped, with the large end to the north. It was Sabbath, and 
the water was very quiet. As the boat glided peacefully over the 
dimpling surface, Bird could hardly realize that.it was frequently con- 
vulsed by violent storms, such as the one of which she read, when 
the Saviour walked upon the waves and bade them, " Peace, be still . . . 
and suddenly there was a great calm." 

Such a calm brooded over the lake now. Snowy Hermon rose in 
the north, cloud-like and faint on the distant horizon. The water- 
walls of Tiberias formed new groupings behind her as the boat tacked 
and veered to catch the whisper of wind, — a mere breath, — which 
carried it lazily toward Gamala on the eastern shore. The ruins of this 




£_~"_ -'^*s*^^^« 






THE LAKE OF GENNESARETH. 



ancient city possessed a keen interest for Bird for it had been the 
scene of one of the most cruel tragedies which had ever befallen her 
unfortunate people. 

Dr. William M. Thompson gives this thrilling account of the capture 
of that strongest of Hebrew fortresses : — 

" It was the last that was sacked by Vespasian and Titus before the siege 
of Jerusalem, and it has remained to this day just as they left it. Josephus in- 
forms us that the people of Gamala refused to surrender to the Romans. ' They 
relied upon the difficulty of the place, for it was situated upon a rough ridge of 
a high mountain, insomuch that it is like a camel in figure.' 

" In the year sixty-nine of our era the invincible legions of Rome closed 
around it, never to leave while a living man remained in Gamala. The Fif- 
teenth Legion fortified their camp on the ridge to the east; the Fifth did the 



THE JOURNEY NORTHWARD. 235 

same farther round toward the north; and the Tenth was engaged in filling up 
the ditches on the south-eastern part, along the narrow neck which connected 
the citadel with the mountain on the south. When the way was thus levelled 
up to a part of the wall, the battering-rams were made to play upon it in three 
places with such fury that it soon fell. Through the gap rushed the iron -clad 
legions with \ mighty sound of trumpets and noise of armor and shout of soldiers.' 
But despair and frenzy nerved the hearts and arms of the Jews. The Romans, 
hard pressed, rushed into the houses that hung, one over another, along the 
steep declivity, in such numbers that the foundations gave way, — those above 
falling upon those below, house upon house, in horrible confusion, burying and 
crushing to death whole ranks in a moment. Josephus was then a prisoner in 
the Roman camp, and witnessed the awful scene. The Romans retreated to 
their camps, and the Gamalites celebrated their victory with the most extrava- 
gant rejoicings. Brief was their triumph. Vespasian encouraged his army in a 
set speech. Titus came back from Syria with reinforcements ; the soldiers 
rushed in again, led on by Titus himself. Everything went down before the ten- 
fold fury of the onset, — the outer city first, and then the wonderful citadel 
itself was taken. Five thousand of those miserable people, seeing escape impos- 
sible, destroyed themselves. Husbands threw their wives over the walls ; parents 
seized their children and leaped madly from the ramparts and were crushed into 
hideous masses in those yawning gulfs below. So fell Gamala on the twenty- 
third of October, A. D. 69, after a siege of twenty-nine days. Of the entire pop- 
ulation that thronged that city and citadel only two women escaped. The next 
act in the drama of Israel's destruction opens on the hills around Jerusalem, 
where the long bloody tragedy winds up with the total overthrow of that city 
and the holy temple, amidst agonies and carnage never seen before, and never 
to be repeated while the world stands." 

Bird looked with great interest up toward the ruins of this historic 
city of the cliffs, whose overturned columns remain to this day as the 
Roman legions left them. Many of these columns are very large 
and beautiful, cut from Egyptian granite, with Doric, Ionic, and Co- 
rinthian capitals. It must have been a work of expensive engineer- 
ing to hoist them to the top of this cliff. Bird did not land at Ga- 
mala, for there was no other boat anchored by the shore at the foot 
of the cliffs. The helmsman changed the course and made for 
Magdala on the other side of the lake, as the next point likely to 
interest tourists. He assured Daniel that there were immense treas- 



236 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



ures buried in the ruins of Gamala, but they were guarded by jinn, 
or spirits, who would twist the necks of any adventurous searchers. 

Magdala is pointed out by tradition as the home of Mary Magda- 
lene. Great misapprehension exists in the minds of many persons in 
regard to this Mary. She is frequently confounded with gentle Mary 
of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus and friend of Jesus ; and it is taken 
for granted that she was the unnamed woman who was a sinner, who 
anointed Christ's feet, and wiped them with her hair. Mary Magda- 
lene should be confused with neither of these. She was a wealthy 
woman of Magdala, afflicted by evil spirits (possibly insane or epiliptic), 
and cured by our Lord ; but it is nowhere stated that she was a woman 

of evil character. On the contrary, 
she is mentioned as the companion 
of Joanna the wife of Herod's 
steward and other honorable wo- 
men, "who ministered to the Lord 
of their substance." She was a 
friend also of Mary the mother of 
Jesus, and the aspersion which 
rests upon the character of Mary 
Magdalene is without foundation. 
The two women who were sinners 
were not named in the sacred 
record. Possibly this omission 
was intentional. 




FOUNTAIN OF MARY, NAZARETH. 



" He would not have the sullied name, 
Once fondly spoken in a home, 
A mark for strangers' righteous blame ; 
Branded through every age to come. 

" And thus we only speak of them 

As those on whom his mercies meet, — 

She whom the Lord ' would not condemn,' 

And she who bathed with tears his feet. 



As Bird read the sacred guide she felt herself more and more im- 



THE JOURNEY NORTHWARD. 237 

pressed with the character of Jesus; but a lucid commentary of his 
life and teachings had been afforded her in Frank. She saw now where 
the young man had gained his peculiar unworldliness. It was a reflex 
of the spirit of his Master, and her heart found its way through the 
reflection to the divine original. " I can never say ' my Frank,' " she 
thought, " but I can say, ' my Christ, my Messiah.' " 

They were nearing the head of the lake. There at length was the 
other boat, moored a little distance from the shore, and the tents 
pitched on the beach. 

At last she had found them, and she nerved herself for the task 
before her. She was thankful that she had found them in time to 
rescue Captain Blakeslee ; but after she had given that message she 
must tell them just who she was, and bid them good-by. She was as 
eager now to throw off the long deceit as she had been to preserve it. 
She had come to look at it in its true light, and to feel ashamed before 
her own soul of having ever allowed herself to countenance it. She 
could hardly wait for the boat's keel to grate upon the sand to spring 
to the shore and hurry to the camp. 

What was her disappointment on recognizing the Barkers, whom 
she had met at Shepherd's Hotel in Cairo. They were delighted to 
see her, but she could not keep the tears from welling to her eyes. " I 
thought that I should find my friends the Remingtons here," she said, 
in explanation of her evident disappointment. 

" We have been travelling in their company," Mr. Barker replied, 
" but they left us at Shunem to strike across to the Mediterranean. 
They are going up the coast to Beirut by way of Haifa, Acre, and 
Tyre. We expect to meet them again, for we start for Tyre to-mor- 
row. Will you not go with us ? " 

Bird hesitated. She had not thought of prolonging her journey so 
far, but the need was great ; and if she met them at Tyre, there was 
still ample time for Mr. Remington and Frank to return by steamer 
to Jaffa, and thence to Jerusalem and the desert, before the torture 
began. She could return home in the same way ; and she could send 



2 3 S 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



a message back by Daniel, explaining the change in her plans. She 
was a resolute girl, and her mind was quickly made up. Daniel was 
easily persuaded, by the prospect of additional gain, to take her as far 




THE RUINS OF TELL HUM. 



as Tyre ; and he returned to Tiberias in the boat, promising to be on 
hand by ten o'clock the next morning with the beasts. After dinner 
Bird walked with the Barkers over the ruins of Tell Hum, the ancient 
Capernaum, near which they were encamped, — only a mass of fallen 



THE JOURNEY NORTHWARD. 039 

stone and debris, overrun by nettles and blossoming oleanders. Mr. 
Barker pointed out the remains of a synagogue, which Colonel Wilson 
asserts is the finest in Upper Galilee. The exterior was decorated 
with pilasters, and there were twenty-eight columns within with Co- 
rinthian capitals. This is believed to be the synagogue built by the 
Roman centurion, mentioned in Luke vii. 4, 5. (•' And when they 
came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was 
worthy for whom he should do this : For he loveth our nation, and 
he, hath built us a synagogue.") 

" It was in this building," says Colonel Wilson, " that our Lord gave 
the well-known discourse in John vi. ; and it was not without a cer- 
tain strange feeling that on turning over a block (in the ruins) we 
found the pot of manna engraved on its face, and remembered the 
words, ' I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the 
wilderness, and are dead/ " Mr. Barker pointed out Kherazeh, the an- 
cient Chorazin, in the distance. As they came back to the camp in 
the twilight they noticed stray Arabs skulking about watching them. 
" I don't like the looks of those fellows," said Mr. Barker. " There 
is a set of bandits over to the east of the lake, and these men may be 
sent to ascertain whether we are worth capturing. Come girls, let us 
show them a little pistol practice." 

The Misses Barker and their father accordingly set up a mark at 
some distance, and began firing at it. Two of the Arabs approached, 
and noticed the young ladies' accuracy of aim with evident surprise. 
They slipped away chattering, as the dragoman told them, compli- 
ments on the marksmanship of these surprising females. 

The stars came out one by one, and were reflected in the lake. 
The eerie feeling of insecurity passed away, and was replaced in 
Birds mind by a feeling of calm trust. She felt that they were all, 
even the poor captive in Petra, in the hands of One mighty to save. 
The eldest Miss Barker read aloud in a soothing voice a poem by Mc- 
Cheyne, and stray lines from it came to her during the intervals of 
sleep that night. 



240 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

" How pleasant to me thy deep blue wave, 

O sea of Galilee ! 
For the glorious One who came to save 

Hath often stood by thee. 
Fair are the lakes in the land I love, 

Where pine and heather grow. 
But thou hast loveliness above 

What Nature can bestow. 
Graceful around thee the mountains meet, 

Thou calm, reposing sea ; 
But ah, far more ! the beautiful feet 

Of Jesus walked o'er thee. 
Those days are past. Bethsaida where ? 

Chorazin, where art thou ? 
His tent the wild Arab pitches there ; 

The wild reeds shade thy brow. 
Tell me, ye mouldering fragments, tell ! 

Was the Saviour's city here ? 
Lifted to heaven, has it sunk to hell, 

With none to shed a tear ? 
O Saviour gone to God's right hand, 

Yet the same Saviour still, 
Graved on thy heart is this lovely strand, 

And every fragrant hill." 

Early the next morning Daniel appeared with the beasts, and a lit- 
tle later the entire party set out in a north-westerly direction for Tyre. 
All this time the Remingtons had been following the River Kishon 
across the plain of Esdraelon to the sea. Many of the scenes through 
which they passed reminded them of the great battle between the 
forces of Sisera and Barak, which took place here, and is so graphi- 
cally described in Judges iv. and v. 

Just what part Deborah took in the conflict beyond prophesying 
Barak's victory, and composing the celebrated paean which follows it, 
we do not know ; but her name and that of Jael, the wife of Heber the 
Kenite, are inseparably connected with it. 

Sisera and his host and his nine hundred chariots fled precipitately 
down the valley of the Kishon. That there must have been a terrific 
storm at the time is proved by the fact that the bed of the Kishon 
where the battle took place would have been nearly dry under ordi- 



THE JOURNEY NORTHWARD. 



241 



nary circumstances ; and from Deborah's song, " They fought from 
heaven ; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera." 

The army of Sisera retreated toward " Harosheth of the Gentiles." 
This place Dr. Thompson locates at Tell Harothieh, — a village at 
the lower end of the narrow pass, through which the Kishon issues 
into the plain of Acre. 

" The victorious Barak was behind them; on their left the hills of Samaria 
in the hand of their enemies; on their right was the swollen river and the 
marshes of Eth Thorah : they had no alternative but to make for the narrow 
pass which led from Esdraelon to Harosheth. A castle there would command 
the pass up the vale, 
and such a castle there 
probably was at that 
time ; the tell is still 
covered with remains 
of walls. 

The hills of Samaria 
bend round to the base 
of Carmel, while those 
of Galilee do the same 
on the opposite side. 
The vale becomes more 
and more narrow, until 
within the pass it is 
only a few rods wide. 
There horses, chariots 
and men became mixed 
in horrible confusion, 
jostling and treading 
down one another ; and 

the river, swifter and deeper than above runs zigzag, from side to side until, 
just before it reaches Tell Harothieh, it dashes against the perpendicular base 
of Carmel. There is no longer any possibility of avoiding it, and rank upon 
rank the flying host plunge madly in, those behind crushing those before. 
' The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon.' ' 

All the country, as one approaches Carmel, is identified with Elijah. 

The altar which he built when the great test was made between the 

16 




MONASTERY OF MOUNT CARMEL. 




PROMONTORY OF CARMEL. 



242 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

power of Jehovah and that of Baal is located at a place called El Muh- 
rakah, on the south-eastern end of Mount Carmel. It is reverenced by 
Jews, Christians, Moslems, Druses, and Bedouins alike, as the site of 

the great miracle of Elijah. 
Our pilgrims did not climb 
the mountain to visit the 
spot, but went directly to 
the hotel in the town of 
Haifa. 

They found Haifa a sleepy, 
Oriental city, whose white 
walls extend to the water's 
edo-e. At its back rises a 
hill dominated by a castle. 
Palm-trees waved above . the 
domes and minarets, and 
boats with picturesque lateen sails glided by. A colony of Germans, 
similar to the one at Jaffa has settled here. The hotel in which the 
Remington's lodged was in this quarter, and it seemed very pleasant 
after their long experience of Oriental living to find themselves in a 
neatly kept German home. 

The next day the younger members of the party climbed to the 
convent of Mar Elyas, — an ancient house of Carmelite monks, named 
in honor of Elijah. There were hermits here dwelling in caves as 
early as the Crusades, and in 1340 the Carmelites built a fine monas- 
tery here. In 1799 a convent on the same site was used by the 
French as a hospital, but was destroyed in 182 1 by the Turks. ^ The 
present convent was built by the efforts of Padre Giovanni Battista, of 
Frascati, who travelled for fifteen years soliciting funds for its erection. 
They were told, and could well believe, that it is the handsomest convent 
in Palestine. It is of stone, and the rooms are spacious and dignified. 
The party lunched in the hospice, and were well served by the breth- 
ren, and were afterwards shown the convent library, the refectory, and 



THE JOURNEY NORTHWARD. 



243 




MOUTH OF THE RIVER KISHOX. 



the chapel, beneath which, they assured their guests, was the veritable 
cave of Elijah. 

From the cupola that crowns the dome, they obtained a magnifi- 
cent view. At their feet lay Haifa, and across the bay the city of 
Acre. In the distance, Lebanon's snowy top blended with the clouds. 
To the south, Frank pointed out a hill behind which Nazareth lay 
hidden. He did not know that Bird was there seeking for him, but 
his heart cried out for her. He had anticipated so much enjoyment 
from this journey in explaining and showing places familiar to him to 
her, and now the zest was sone. 

They sent the camp equipage and horses around the bay by land 
to Acre, while they sailed across the bay in one. of the picturesque 
sailboats. 



244 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



Acre is situated on a peninsula, and is a strongly fortified city. It 
was the last fortress evacuated by the crusaders when they left the 
Holy Land. It has been successively destroyed and rebuilt by Chris- 
tians and Moslems since that time. In 1799 Napoleon Bonaparte 
took Acre, and on the plain of Esdraelon, near by Kleber, with about 
two thousand men defeated a Turkish army of twenty-five thousand. 

Ibrahim Pasha endeavored to convert Acre into an island by cut- 
ting a fosse across the narrow neck which connects it with the main- 







ACRE. 



land; but Commodore Napier bombarded the town in 1840, and again 
reduced the fortifications to ruin. 

The Remingtons walked about the walls, and examined the four 
hundred cannon which sweep land and water. One of these is said 
to bear the inscription, " Ultima ratio regum," — the last argument 
of kings. 

Away to the north lay the ancient cities of Tire and Sidon, which 
they would visit later ; but all the party felt that they preferred now to 
turn their faces eastward, for further journeying on the sea-board 
would take them too far from Galilee. 

The villages to the east of Acre had each its legend of the Cru- 



THE JOURNEY NORTHWARD. 



2 45 



sades. Here was the ruined castle of Akil Aga, where the banner of 
Richard the Lion-Hearted waved during the siege of Acre. Farther 
on Mohammed pointed out the castle Shefa Omar, where Saladin 
made his headquarters. They made their noonday rest at the ruined 




CANA. 



village of Cana, deserted now of all inhabitants except the little wild 
creatures of the desert. Mohammed warned them that it was not 
safe for the young ladies to explore the village alone, for leopards 
couched in sunny windows of the ruins, and wild boar rooted among 
the foundation-stones. 

The water from the fountain of Cana was very poor. " I do not 
wonder that Christ changed it to wine," Mr. Remington said, making 
a wry face as he set down his glass. 

" Don't you think," Violet asked after a moment, " that it would 
be a beautiful thousrht to be married here ? It would seem as if 
Christ had really sat at one's wedding supper and blessed one's 
wedded life." 



246 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



" The sentiment, my dear, is admirable," said Mrs. Remington ; 
" but when you are married I trust it will be in a more civilized 
reaion — somewhere where the conveniences for obtaining a real sup- 
per will be a little more apparent." 

Violet rambled away to the fountain with Frank. " Some way 
Mother never quite understands me," she said. " It would be more 

to me all my life to know that 
my wedding had taken place 
where Christ once blessed a 
marriage, even if I drank only 
the brackish water of this foun- 
tain, than to have had the 
most magnificent ceremonies 
in the greatest of cathedrals 
and the most sumptuous ban- 
quet in the grandest of pal- 
aces." 

" I understand you, Violet," 
Frank replied ; " but after all, 
the place does not matter, — 
only the spirit." 

" It matters to me," Violet replied with enthusiasm ; " and I am 
going to bottle some of this water to be served at my wedding, — if I 
ever have one ; and to me it will be the best wine of the feast." 

Frank picked up some broken fragments of water jars near the 
fountain, suggesting that they would make pleasant souvenirs to 
give as wedding presents to friends. 

" And I will write something appropriate on each one," Violet 
replied. " What shall it be besides the reference, John ii. 1-1 1. ? " 

" There is nothing better than the prize poem which Milton wrote 
on this miracle when he was a boy — " 




FOUNTAIN AT CANA. 



THE JOURNEY NORTHWARD. 047 

"I know: 'The conscious water saw its Lord, and blushed.' It 
is exquisite." 

Mohammed was calling them, and they hurried back to their horses. 
They were to spend the night at Seffurieh, near Nazareth; and it 
seemed indeed an irony of fate that on the same morning that Bird 
turned away from the Sea of Galilee, the Remingtons reached its 
shores. 



CHAPTER XL 



BEIRUT. — DAMASCUS. 




[RD'S journey to Tyre was quickly made. The 
Barkers were not interested in looking up obscure 
sites of ancient places. Indeed, it would be difficult 
to guess why they, and so many like them, made this 
journey. After it was over, Bird could only remember 
one object of historic interest which they paused to visit, — Hiram's 
tomb, near the city of Tyre. 

It looked old enough to be authentic; and Bird could well believe 
that this was the resting-place of King Solomon's great friend, who 
gave him all his desire " concerning timber of cedar and concerning 
timber of fir " from Mount Lebanon, (i Kings, v.) 

Bird at any other time would have felt a scholar's interest in Tyre, 
the ancient capital of Phoenicia. As it was, she could not forget that 
Queen Dido fled from this country with some of the noble and 
wealthy families of Sidon, and founded the city of Carthage, in Libya, 
about 813 B.C. If Virgil's romance of the /Eneid is chiefly fabulous, 
it has at least this foundation-stone of truth. Tyre was one of the 
greatest commercial cities of ancient times. Ezekiel gives us a strik- 
ing picture of her mercantile character in the twenty-seventh chapter 
of his prophecy, in which the word merchant and merchandise are 
repeated seventeen times. Tyre was especially noted for her purple 
dye, and Sidon claims the honor of having invented glass. Whether 
this be true or not, the Sidonians early stained glass by means of 
metallic oxides, and imitated precious stones. Their mining opera- 
tions were famous, as was their brass-founding and ship-building. 



BEIRUT. — DAMASCUS. 



249 



Bird was doomed to disappointment at Tyre, for no trace could be 
found of the Remingtons. The Barkers were positive that Frank had 
told them that Beirut was their ultimate destination. The Barkers 
dismissed their dragoman at Tyre, who returned with the horses and 
camp equipage to Jerusalem, while they took passage by steamer for 
Beirut, and urged Bird to accompany them. It was a forlorn hope, 
but Bird knew that Frank would sooner or later lead his family to 
Beirut, for he had spoken so often and so enthusiastically of the college 




MOUNT LEBANON, FROM BEIRUT. 



and the missions located there. They were a lode-star, whose attrac- 
tive influence he could not possibly resist. If she waited in Beirut long 
enough, Frank would certainly come. The only question was, whether 
he would be in time to help his friends. The trip would only take a 
few hours, and she felt that she must try this last resource. She 
accordingly dismissed Daniel with a letter for her mother, explaining 
the situation, and taking Miriam with her, embarked with the Barkers 
for Beirut. 

The city, as seen by one approaching it from the sea, is very 
beautiful. Its white, flat, or tiled-roofed houses step upward in 
terraces intermingled with gardens and shrubbery, and the range of 



250 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

Lebanon throws its mighty arm around the amphitheatre. The pic- 
ture at sunset, with the flush crimsoning the snowy peaks, or in the 
evening when the gaslights glitter like fire-flies amidst the foliage, 
rivals the famous views of the cities of Lisbon and Naples. 

High walls shut the gardens from the view of the passers in the 
streets, but oleanders and lantanas, roses, and other gorgeous flowers, 
trail from the tops of the walls; and in some instances blossoming- 
cactus hedges take the place of the walls themselves. The houses of 
the wealthier class are very handsome, with tessellated marble pave- 
ments, fountains, high ceilings, and beautiful carvings. The bazaars 
are fascinating, the public garden a dream of beauty, but the chief 
interest in Beirut to the American is the Syrian Protestant College, — 
a wonderfully complete and successful institution. It was opened in 
1866, and is managed by a board of trustees consisting of five promi- 
nent and philanthropic New Yorkers. Under the able presidency of 
Dr. Daniel Bliss, assisted by a large faculty of professors and instruc- 
tors, the college has thriven in a phenomenal manner. Among its 
buildings are : — 

I. A large main building, containing the library, the geological 
and antiquarian collections, the hall for literary societies, recitation 
and study rooms, and dormitories. 

II. The Medical Building, containing large lecture rooms, chemi- 
cal laboratory and museums. 

III. An Observatory. 

IV. Marquand House, the President's residence. 

V. The Ada Dodge Memorial Hall for the use of the Preparatory 
Department. 

VI. The Chapel. 

All of these buildings are finely equipped. The Library contains 
4,500 books in different European languages, and 800 in Arabic and 
Turkish, including the valuable library bequeathed by the late Nofel 
Effendi, of Tripoli. The museums illustrating the department of 



BEIR UT.~ DA MA SCUS. 2 5 I 

archaeology are very valuable. These museums had been a favorite 
•resort of Frank's during his former visit. Bird had heard him speak 
of the ancient pottery collected here, of the glassware, bronzes, and 
sarcophagi, and knew that he was especially interested in the immense 
collection of coins. The geological, botanical, zoological, and surgi- 
cal museums are also most amply provided with interesting and 
instructive specimens ; but more entertaining even than the rich 
equipment of the college were the students who had flocked to its 
doors from widely distant cities. They are chiefly Turks, and the 
course of study included instruction in Arabic as well as French and 
English. They are bright-looking young men, with fascinating Ori- 
ental names, — Iskander Constantine, Salim, Rashid, Khali], Ibrahim, 
Hazquiral Ayyub, Hasan, Muhammed, Suleiman, Abdallah, Fadhlu, 
and the like, many of them recalling heroes of the Arabian Nights, or 
of the Tales of the Alhambra. 

The medical department of the college has been a great favorite, 
and has graduated a class every year since 1871. These young men 
have gone to fill positions of usefulness and honor throughout the 
land, and have filled them well. The Presbyterian Mission in Syria 
has given the healing of the body with one hand, and the healing of 
the soul with the other. 

Bird went directly to the college, feeling that she must find the 
Remingtons here. Calculating the possibilities in the most favorable 
light, there was just time for Frank to get to the Bedouin camp, if 
he took the steamer for Jaffa now lying in the harbor. 

Bird was overwrought with the long tension; the supreme moment 
had arrived. Her limbs trembled so that she could scarcely drag her- 
self up the front steps of Marquand House. If only the first person 
whom she met might be Frank or Violet! She prayed earnestly in 
her heart, " O God, let me not be too late ! " 

She was shown into a quiet room full of books, and the President 
lifted his venerable white head from his writing to attend to her. She 



252 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

told her hope of hearing news of the Remingtons. " I am glad 
that you are not to be disappointed," Dr. Bliss replied. " Fortunately, 
I can give you authentic information, for I received a few days ago 
a letter from Frank Remington, written at Acre, detailing his itinerary 
from that place to this." 

Bird read the letter, and understood at a glance how she had played 
at hide-and-seek with her friends. And now they were probably rid- 
ing leisurely northward toward Damascus, for it still lacked a week of 
the time at which Frank wrote the President that they might be expected 
at Beirut. 

Bird turned faint. Everything was dark and swam about her. 
When she came to herself, Mrs. Bliss was bathing her forehead. The 
poor girl looked about her in a startled way, and when consciousness 
completely returned, cried out, " Then after all, I am too late — too 
late ! " 

" What is it, my dear? " Mrs. Bliss asked kindly; and Bird told 
the entire story. 

" How unfortunate," Dr. Bliss exclaimed, " that we did not know 
of this two days ago, when Sir Neville Fitzgerald called, hoping to 
find some news of Captain Blakeslee. He had come out from Eng- 
land expecting to meet the Captain in Beirut and to organize with 
him a party to explore the ruins of Baalbec and Palmyra. Not find- 
ing any trace of his friend, he was at loss what to do, until I advised 
him to secure the services of Frank Remington, who is one of the 
most able young explorers that I know of. It is possible that Sir 
Neville would have been quite as willing, and even better able, to as- 
sist in this juncture than Mr. Remington ; but he left yesterday for 
Damascus." 

" Everything happens just wrong," moaned Bird. " I am indeed 
most unfortunate." 

" Perhaps not," said Mrs. Bliss, cheerfully. " If you take the dili- 
gence for Damascus to-morrow morning, you will overtake Sir Ne- 



BEIR UT. — DA MA SCUS. 253 

ville in time to enable him to rescue his friends from death, if not 
from mutilation." 

Bird shuddered at the word. " Is it not something to have saved 
their lives ? " Dr. Bliss asked. 

" Yes, yes," Bird replied feverishly ; " and then I shall find the Rem- 
ingtons in Damascus, too. Yes, I must go on at once." 

" The stage does not start until early to-morrow morning," replied 
Mrs. Bliss. " Come away, my dear, and rest." 

She led Bird to a quiet chamber, simply furnished. The wearied 
girl thanked her, bathed her face, and lay down on the white bed. As 
she did so, her eye was caught by a strip of violet silk on the opposite 
wall, on which were printed these soothing lines. 

" Sleep sweet 
Within this quiet room, 

O thou, whoe'er thou art ; 
And let no mournful yesterdays 

Disturb thy quiet heart. 
Nor let to-morrow scare thy rest 

With dreams of coming ill ; 
Thy Maker is thy changeless friend, 

His love surrounds thee still. 
Forget thyself and all the world ; 

Put out each feverish light. 
The stars are watching overhead. 

Sleep sweet, 
Good-night ! Good-night ! " 

As we already know, the Remingtons continued their caravan 
trip northward from the Sea of Galilee, passing Huleh and circling 
the range of Hermon, until they came to Damascus. During this 
part of their journey they saw much that was interesting which we 
must pass over, but a memorable conversation which took place be- 
tween Frank and his mother must be recorded. 

They were riding apart from the others, through stretches of 
crimson Huleh lilies, — the lily of the field, of which Jesus spoke. The 
day was very lovely and calm, and Mrs. Remington looked up sud- 



254 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

denly, and asked, " What could be more beautiful ? Are you not 
perfectly happy ? " 

" No, Mother, I am not happy," Frank replied ; " and it would all 
be so much more beautiful if Bird were here." 

Mrs. Remington started. She had only half guessed Frank's 
secret ; but he could keep, it no longer, and he poured all his trouble 
out, even to Mr. Baumgarten's statement that Bird was of Jewish 
extraction. 

" I do not believe it," Mrs. Remington replied emphatically. " What 
proofs has he to offer for such an astonishing assertion. It is not at 
all a likely story." 

" The more I think of it," said Frank, " the more probable it seems. 
I shall not be surprised if it proves to be the case." 

" Well," said Mrs. Remington, in her trivial, fatuous way, " there is 
one comfort, — no one would ever suspect it, and not a soul need 
know it. Bird has kept her secret very cleverly." 

" Mother ! " Frank exclaimed in a tone of real anguish, " how can you 
look at the matter in that way ? What possible disgrace is there in the 
fact that Bird is a Hebrew ? I consider it, on the contrary, an honor 
that she can trace her ancestry back for ages to a race which gave us 
Christ and the Christian religion, and which alone held the true 
knowledge of God, and was noted for its refinement and learning when 
our own ancestors were besotted savages." 

Mrs. Remington shrank visibly before this outburst. " Yes, I 
know," she murmured feebly ; "you love her, Frank, — I 've seen it all 
along, — and I don't wonder, for she is very bewitching ; and if this is 
not generally known, I don't think it need make any difference. You 
naturally see nothing objectionable in anything or anybody at all 
related to her; but I fear society would hardly look at her Hebrew 
connections in that way." 

" Society ! " Frank exclaimed with infinite scorn, " what do we 
care for the opinion of society when a grand issue like this comes 



wrong 



BEIR UT. — DA MA SCUS. 2 c c 

up, and we know that we are in the right, and that society is all 
! " 

" If you feel that way," Mrs. Remington replied, " I don't see why 
you should be at all troubled by Mr. Baumgarten's information." 

Frank was silent. If his mother could not see that it was 
Bird's attempted concealment of the truth which pained him, it was 
useless for him to explain it to her. Sometimes mother and son, 
in their mental and moral attitude, stand miles away from each 
other, and are as really alien from one another as if they spoke dif- 
ferent languages. 

Mrs. Remington prattled on. " There is such a difference in Jews. 
Now, if Bird's people are the Baumgartens, I am sure that neither 
your father nor I would object ; but I fear they are very disagreeable 
persons indeed, or she would not have been ashamed of them." 

" I don't care How objectionable they are," Frank cried impetu- 
ously. " That would make no difference to me, as it ought not to her. 
The thing that pains me is that she is ashamed of her parents, 
— that she has used deceit. The girl that I thought she was, — the 
girl whom I really loved, — could not have done that." 

" You are too silly for anything! " Mrs. Remington exclaimed pet- 
tishly, " I am sure it was very natural under the circumstances ; and 
indeed, her er — er — her reticence may have been quite as much out of 
consideration for our feelings as on her own account. If you love her 
so much, I should think you would want to protect her from unfriendly 
criticism by helping her to keep the facts from coming out. Indeed, if 
you possessed the delicacy that I gave you credit for, you would pretend 
that you suspected nothing. You will find such a course quite as much 
to your own advantage as to hers; for though I am fond of Bird per- 
sonally, and would like to see you both happy, I give you fair warning 
that if this comes to be generally known through either of you, I will 
never consent to your marriage, — never! " 

" Are you in earnest ? " Frank asked. 



256 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

" Perfectly." 

" Then, God forgive me, I am ashamed of my own mother, — the 
very fault for which I blame poor Bird." 

They rode on in silence. The revelation which had come to each 
of the other's character was mutually painful. If it was a bitter thing 
to Frank to find that his mother's ideals were lower than his own, 
it was mortifying to Mrs. Remington to feel that her own code of 
morals was lower than her son's, and that she had lost his respect. 
Love was still there, and tender, dutiful regard, and a pity such as 
one feels for a deformed child ; but the reverent admiration, which 
is a mother's proudest tribute from her boy, she had lost, and she 

knew it. 

" I have come down from my pedestal," she said to herself, bitterly ; 
"he will never look up to me again." 

After this, Frank confided Mr. Baumgarten's information to his 
father, and to Violet. 

" Singular man, that Baumgarten," said Mr. Remington. " He 
knows so much about Bird's relatives that I suspect he knows more. 
I wish you had told me this when we were in Jerusalem, and I believe 
I could have found out from him just who and where this mysterious 
Orchard is. I cannot conceive why Bird should have concealed the 
facts from us if it is only such a thoroughly immaterial matter as Jew- 
ish ancestry. Surely, she could see that we are persons of sense 
enough not to be influenced against her on that account. Your 
mother is the only one in our family who has any prejudice of that 
kind; and she is too fond of Bird to let it make any difference. 
I very much fear, my boy, that there may be worse concealed than 
you imagine." 

Frank looked at his father, distressed by new and vague apprehen- 
sions. It is one of the penalties of concealment that when we learn 
that it has been practised, the imagination always conjures worse possi- 
bilities than the real facts. 



BEIRUT. — DAMASCUS. 



257 



But while his father and his mother only added to his trouble, 
Violet was as usual a real comfort. 

" I shall never believe any wrong of Bird," she insisted. " It will all 
be explained, I know. In some way you will find that it is all right. 1 ' 

" I don't see how it can be," Frank replied despondently. " If it 
were as bad as Father seems to fear, I could still forgive her anything 
but deceit ; but unfortunately deceit is the one thing that we are 
sure of." 

" No," Violet replied stoutly, " we are not at all sure of it. Perhaps 
she is not a Jewess at all, or if she is one, perhaps she has only just 
been informed of the fact herself. Whatever the trouble is, I think it 
very honorable of her to break off the engagement instead of continu- 
ing it when there was something which she could not tell you. If she 
loved you, and I know she did, it must have been very hard for her to 
do that. And since there is no engagement, and she has gone away 
from you forever, I ask you what obligation there is for her to tell you 
her family secrets ? If she had seen fit to accept you, it would have 
been different, and you might have had some right to know her 
affairs." 

Frank looked more cheerful. He had never thought of the matter 
in just this light. " What a darling you are, Violet; you have taken a 
great load of trouble from my heart, angel sister that you are." 

" Moreover," Violet continued, " I am not only sure that Bird is 
good and true, but I am quite as firmly convinced that everything will 
end satisfactorily, — only you must believe in her, and stand by her 
through evil and through good report ; ' for richer or for poorer, for 
better or worse,' you know, Frank." 

Frank smiled, he hardly knew why ; the situation had not greatly 
changed, but there is such help in sympathy that he felt far more 
hopeful. Violet meantime, after the manner of sisters, locked her own 
anxieties in her heart and comforted her brother all the more cheerily 
that she was herself sorely in need of comfort. 

17 



25§ 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 






Emma has not been mentioned for many pages, but she was not 
an altogether uninterested spectator of the little drama. She was 
pleased that Bird had dropped out of their company. Her old preju- 




A FORD OF THE JORDAN. 

dice held ; and though she bided her time and said nothing of her 
suspicions, she was only waiting to strengthen them by proofs, to 
explode them like a dynamite bomb upon her friends. 

The conversations just indicated took place after they had left the 
source of the Jordan and the Castle of Banias, and were approaching 



BEIRUT. — DAMASCUS. 



259 



the city of Damascus. The famous first view, renowned the world 
over for its surpassing beauty, effectually turned the current of their 
thoughts. Dr. Green thus describes the scene which they beheld 
from a hill called the Katuin : — 

" The prospect is wonderfully fascinating, its charm being that of an oasis in 
the mountain desert. An expanse of the most vivid green contrasts with the 
grey and yellow tints of the Anti-Libanus slopes, and girdles the city like a 
belt. On the outskirts of this bright enclosure rise multitudes of tall poplar- 




DAMASCUS. 



trees, their dark and stately forms being a chief feature in the landscape. As 
the city is approached, these are succeeded by rich groves and orchards of 
walnut, figs, pomegranate, citron, and apricot, while from the branches of the 
tallest trees hang the clustered branches of the vine. The herbage of the fields 
is inconceivably rich; flowers of every hue are springing into blossom, and 
innumerable artificial water-courses from the Barada (the ancient Arbana) 
intersect the fertile scene, carrying life everywhere in their flow." 

This beautiful garden enclosed the city, whose white walls, domes, 
and minarets rose within its embrace like clustered pearls set in a 
border of emeralds. This is the view which Mahomet beheld, and 
refused to enter Damascus, saying as he turned away : " It is permitted 



260 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



to men to enter but one Paradise ; should I avail myself of this one it 
might abate my longing for the heavenly." 

As they were wearied from their long caravan journey our travel- 
lers went directly to Dimitri's Hotel, the most comfortable quarters 
which they had found since leaving Jerusalem. Cool baths and an 
appetizing dinner refreshed them greatly, and prepared them to enjoy 
a stroll through the historic city. First, they sauntered down the 
" street called Straight," and wondered why it had been so inappro- 
priately named, for it meanders through the city like a brook which has 
not quite made up its mind as to its destination. This street led them 
to the picturesque Bab (or Gate) esh-Sherky. They passed bazaars 
filled with the silks of " Damask " pattern, so named from the city, and 
Damascus blades, none of which, however, possessed the wonderful 
pliability which allowed the old scimitars to be bent hilt to point or 
tied in knots. Some of the swords, however, bore mottoes and fanciful 
devices damascened, or inlaid in gold or silver. 

They were shown the Christian quarter, where occurred the terrible 
massacre of i860; and Mohammed pointed out some ruins which had 
not been restored, and remained eloquent monuments of that inunda- 
tion of fire and blood. 

The next day they looked up the places connected with the history 
of Saint Paul. As they approached the city, Mohammed had shov/ed 
them the spot assigned by tradition to his conversion, where " as he 
came near Damascus, suddenly there shined round about him a light 
from heaven, and he fell to the earth " (Acts, ix. 3.), blinded by that 
terrible glare. 

They found their way very easily to the window in the wall, — now 
built up, — from which the apostle is said to have been let down in a 
basket (Acts ix. 25). They looked into the great mosque which occu- 
pies the site of an ancient heathen temple, " perhaps," says one writer, 
" the very House of Rimmon, in which Naarnan was wont to bow down 
beside his royal master Benhadad." (2 Kings, v. 18.) One of the min- 



BEIR UT. — DA MA SCUS. 2 6 1 

arets of this mosque the Moslems have named after Jesus, acknowl- 
edging him as a prophet. 

Frank took them to the missions of the Irish Presbyterian Church ; 
but while admiring the noble work done here, he assured them that 
Beirut was, par excellence, the city of missions and the goal of his 
hearts desire. 

Their host obtained permission for them to inspect the interior of 
a very beautiful house owned by a wealthy Jewish family. The house 
from the street had a very plain and even shabby appearance; but as 
soon as they were admitted to the central court they felt themselves 
transported to fairyland. " It is a chapter out of the Arabian Nights ! " 
Violet exclaimed, and Emma looked about her with the keen curiosity 
and pleasure of an archaeologist. Both girls especially admired some 
wonderful old enamelled tiles of blending peacock blues and greens. 
They were of genuine Saracenic workmanship, and resembled the 
faience of the Alhambra. 

The carved lattices, bubbling fountains, rich embroideries, and the 
exquisite flowers, all received a share of their admiration, and Mrs. 
Remington received new ideas regarding the taste of refined and culti- 
vated Hebrews. Though all acknowledged the charm of Damascus 
the Remingtons did not linger long in the city. A hot wave surged 
in from the desert, whitening the leaves of the apricots with dust. 
The snowy heights in the distance tantalized their sight. Mrs. Rem- 
ington, who had stood the long ride from Jerusalem remarkably well, 
was poorly again, and insisted, with the pettishness of an invalid, on 
going directly to the sea-shore, and that she must travel on wheels. 
She was very sure that she had injured her spine by so much riding; 
she never wished to mount a saddle again. The truth was, that 
Mrs. Remington was dissatisfied with herself, and chose to veil her dis- 
content under the guise of invalidism. She was not entirely selfish, 
however, for she insisted that the rest should not give up their plan of 
visiting- Baalbec on her account. 



262 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

" I will go in the diligence," she said. " Those very pleasant French 
people who sit at the table next to ours are going that way to-morrow 
morning. I am sure they will let me call upon them if I need to do 
so. You can make the Baalbec detour, and join me later at the hotel 
in Beirut." 

Emma had been pondering over her suspicions in regard to Bird, 
and had almost made up her mind to divulge them to Mrs. Remington 
when this change of plan was agreed upon ; and she suddenly realized 
that if there was to be a disclosure it must be made immediately. 
Emma was not ordinarily a mischief-maker, but now some malign 
influence seemed to possess her, which achieved its utmost when 
Frank made some pleasant allusion to Bird, and Mrs. Remington 
replied with intention, " Bird is a most charming girl. I always said 
so, and I want you to distinctly understand that she is a great favorite 
of mine, and that I regret her absence from our party. I am so sorry 
that we did not meet Mr. Orchard in Jaffa. I had looked forward to 
making his acquaintance. Bird is such a distinguished girl that I am 
sure she must come from an aristocratic family." 

Frank rose and left the room abruptly, and an instantaneous con- 
viction flashed through Emma's mind : " Frank knows that Bird is a 
Hebrew." So far she was right ; but she erroneously carried her con- 
clusions still further, and took it for granted that Frank, knowing his 
mother's foibles, had not admitted her to his confidence. 

Emma had dreaded telling her famous discovery, for fear that 
Frank would meet it with explanations which would remove all of 
Mrs. Remington's objections ; but here was a golden opportunity. 
Emma would write a note and give it to Mrs. Remington to read after 
she would be quite out of the reach of her son's influence ; and she felt 
sure that such a surprise would have a great effect. Mrs. Remington 
was a little woman mentally ; but though incapable of grand ideals, 
she was perfectly capable of intense pique and perverseness. Emma 
wrote her note with the utmost circumspection, excusing her intrusion 






BEIRUT. — DA MA SCUS. 263 

on the ground of duty. She felt that Mrs. Remington had been 
basely deceived, and that she ought to know the entire truth. She 
beo-o-ed her not to trouble Frank with the knowledge, which would 
doubtless be a most cruel surprise for him, but only investigate the 
matter for herself. Mrs. Baumgarten, when charged with the truth, 
would doubtless confess. Emma had had a thought of making this an 
anonymous letter. She hesitated for some minutes before signing her 
name to this mean and underhand communication; but she knew that 
an anonymous letter might be treated with contemptuous disregard, or 
very easily traced to its source, and she felt very willing to stand by 
all that she had said. She accordingly hastily signed her name and 
thrust the evil-intentioned missive into Mrs. Remington's hand as she 
took her seat in the diligence. The little lady opened her eyes in 
wide surprise at this singular conduct on Emma's part, but promised 
not to read the note until she arrived at Beirut. 

In her journey that day she passed the diligence which was bring- 
ing: Bird to Damascus, and Bird, the better to enjoy the magnificent 
mountain scenery, had taken a conspicuous seat on the outside. 
They might easily have recognized each other had not Mrs. Reming- 
ton indulged in a little nap just at the time that the two vehicles met. 

Bird went directly to Dimitri's Hotel, and was rejoiced to find that 
her friends were still there, though the proprietor informed her that 
they were preparing for an early start on the following day. " What 
name shall I send up ? " asked the proprietor; and Bird without an in- 
stant's hesitation wrote " Zipporah Baumgarten " on the blank card 
which he handed her. 

Then she stepped into the vacant, marble-paved parlor, where the 
cool plash of the fountain had no power to calm her excited feelings. 
She paced back and forward, becoming every instant more flushed 
and nervous. It was only three minutes, but it seemed an eternity, 
before Frank appeared. He had evidently expected to meet a 
stranger, for he started when he recognized her. His first overmas- 



264 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

tering impulse was to spring to her side and give her a lover's greet- 
ing ; but Bird gently but firmly held him aloof. 

" What does all this mean, Bird ? " he asked anxiously. 
. " It means," she replied, hurriedly, almost incoherently, " that I 
am Bariah Baumgarten's granddaughter, and Shear Baumgarten's 
daughter, and that I have come all this way to tell you of it, because 
I cannot bear the thought of having deceived you, and because you 
must understand now how impossible it is for us to think of marriage ; 
and it will be easier for you to give me up, knowing just why. I 
could not write it ; I felt that I must see you and tell it, and hear 
you say that you forgive me, and bid you good-by." 

Bird had intended to be very brave and calm, but the tears came 
to her eyes and her voice broke. And Frank, who had also meant to 
be dispassionate and even stern, felt all the barriers of his displeasure 
give way before the flood of his returning love. He held her closely, 
saying only, "My poor dear Bird, what unnecessary suffering you 
have taken upon yourself." 

Bird gave way only for a moment, then rising, she crowded back 
her tears with a wilful toss of her imperious little head : " You have 
heard my confession very kindly, more leniently than I expected, and 
for this I thank you." 

" I only wonder, dear, that you should have ever thought that 
there was any need of concealment. You have a learned grandfather, 
an estimable father, and a most lovely mother. Why did you not tell 
us this before, dear Bird ? " 

" Because I could not bear to have you scorn them and me." 

" But you surely did not imagine that I could think the less of any 
one of you for this relationship, when you knew how I loved you, and 
how I honored them ? " 

" No, you could not despise us for being related or for being 
Jews, but you would and you do scorn us for the long deception we 
have practised." 



BEIRUT. — DAMASCUS. 



265 



u How did it come about, Bird dear ? I do not understand it at 
all." 

Bird told all the miserable story, and Frank listened with the ut- 
most consideration. " It was all a mistake, my darling," he said at 
last, when she had finished. " Concealment of the truth is always a 
mistake, but in this instance it is not an irrevocable one. I love you 
all the more for not being able to live away from your father and 
mother, for not being able to live a lie, or even the least shadow of 
one. I love you all the more and am proud of you. Why do you say 
you have come to bid me good-by ? There must never be any good- 
bys between us now forever." 

" But I am proud too," Bird replied, — " very proud of my dear 
mother and father, and you must be proud of them, too." 

" I am," Frank replied promptly. 

" And all of your family," Bird urged. " No one must be the 
least bit ashamed of my relatives ; I could never bear it." 

" My parents love you," Frank replied evasively, " and Violet is 
longing to give you a sister's welcome." 

"Violet! Oh, Frank!" Bird exclaimed. "In seeing you I have 
forgotten half, and the most important half, of my errand. But for 
this I might never have come at all. Dr. Trotter and Captain Blakes- 
lee are in danger of their lives." She could hardly tell the story fast 
enough ; but Frank comprehended it quickly, and made a rapid calcu- 
lation. " If the Arabs carry out their threat, there is only the barest 
chance of my arriving in time to prevent the death of my friends ; but 
I must attempt it. I will not wait for to-morrow mornings diligence, 
but will start at once, and ride all night, — though that will be foolish, 
for the next boat for Jaffa does not sail until the arrival of the 
diligence." 

" Sir Neville Fitzgerald is in Damascus," Bird suggested. " He is 
a friend of Captain Blakeslee's; perhaps he will accompany you." 

" I will see him immediately ; and in the mean time come up to 



266 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

Violet's room. Break as much of this news to her as you think best, 
only do not tell her of the threat of torture and death." 

" Need we tell her any part of the bad news at present ? " Bird 
asked. " Why will it not do to say simply that Captain Blakeslee 
wishes you to join him at Petra. The evil tidings, when they come, 
will travel swiftly enough." 

" As you please ; but she will ask a perfect catechism of questions, 
and is bright enough to guess everything." 

But Violet for once was not quick to discern the truth. Her de- 
light at seeing Bird gave her no room for gloomy forebodings ; and 
she was so curious to ascertain whether all was satisfactorily settled 
between her friend and Frank that she put her own affairs quite out 
of consideration. She did say that it must be a matter of great con- 
sequence which could demand that Frank should take so long a jour- 
ney, and she charged her brother to remember her most cordially to 
the Captain. " Is all right between you and Bird ? " she managed to 
ask Frank, as he hurriedly packed a few necessaries. 

" Yes, " he replied. " All is right between us, thank God ! Bird 
will tell you about it; and I depend upon you, little sister, to bring 
Mother into accord. But here is Father, and I want to talk money 
matters; run away to Bird, that is a good girl, and be sure you keep 
her with you until I return." 

Frank spent part of the evening with Sir Neville, and that gentle- 
man decided to leave with him early in the morning and to put forth 
every effort in his power for the rescue of their friends. Frank was 
naturally preoccupied during the evening, but Violet filled all gaps in 
conversation. Her delight that Bird had come to them overflowed 
to the rest, and made the group a very cheerful one. 

Bird herself had never expected such a welcome, or fancied that 
her pilgrimage could have so happy a termination. To do her jus- 
tice, she had undertaken it with no hope of a reconciliation. She had 
expected coldness, and even scorn, and had found in its place a for- 



BEIRUT.— DAMASCUS. 267 

giveness so complete, that it was not recognizable as forgiveness, but 
only as joyous, welcoming love. 

Mr. Remington received the intelligence in a way that was most 
gratifying to Bird. " You had a perfect right to change your name," 
he said. " It is done very frequently in our country to fulfil the con- 
ditions of wills, and in adoption to prevent certain family names from 
becoming extinct. The only mistake in the matter was concealing 
the fact. You are still legally Bird Orchard, but that should not pre- 
vent your acknowledging your family, or imply any rupture between 
you. The change was not so far-reaching in its consequences in your 
case as in that of your brother, who founds a new family, and whose 
grandchildren will probably have forgotten or have never heard that 
the Orchards could not be traced in one unbroken line to some com- 
panion of William, the Conqueror." 

Violet had interviewed Emma privately, and besought her not to 
say anything sarcastic, and Emma restrained herself until Mr. Rem- 
ington made the remarks just reported, when she could not refrain 
from saying that the next time Bird decided upon changing her 
name she hoped that cards would be sent out announcing the fact. 
Violet laughed merrily, and assured Emma that she would not be 
forgotten. Emma was angry that she had not divulged her suspicions 
to all the family, and forestalled Bird's confession. She had laid such 
a clever mine, but she had waited a little too long before applying the 
match. How stupid she had been ! 

While they talked so happily together, both Violet and Bird felt 
that the real opposition was to be anticipated from Mrs. Remington. 
Neither had dared to refer to the attitude she might take. For the 
time she was tactily ignored in their conversation, though the thoughts 
of each was busy with her. Bird kept saying to herself, " It all depends 
upon how Mrs. Remington will regard my father;" while Violet 
thought, " I do hope Bird will not mind anything Mother may say or 
do, for she is sure not to be pleased by this new development." Once 



268 THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 

again the subtle magnetism which sets a current of thought darting 
from one brain to another without the vehicle of speech suggested 
Mrs. Remington to Emma also, and she could hardly refrain from 
maliciously referring to her. In spite of the background of cloud the 
evening closed pleasantly, and early the next morning Frank and Sir 
Neville set out for Beirut. Frank was the bearer of a letter to Bird's 
mother, in which she announced her intention of spending a few days 
with Violet. She longed to say more, but she restrained her desire. 
" I must wait," she said to herself, " until I have seen Mrs. Remington ; 
it all depends upon her." 

Later in the day the caravan was formed again, and Mohammed 
led them out on the road to Baalbec. Little is known of the early 
history of this ancient and beautiful city. It is thought to derive its 
name from Baalbeit, the house of Baal, and was doubtless the seat of a 
great temple to that god ; but the beautiful temple whose ruins are still 
the wonder and admiration of the traveller, was of Roman origin. 
The city was fortified by Augustus, and a century and a half later 
Antoninus Pius built the far-famed temple. 

David Roberts, R. A.,- whose sketches are reproduced in the illus- 
tration of this volume, writes in his journal : — 

" It must be difficult to convey, even with the pencil, any idea of the 
magnificence of this ruin, the beauty of its form, the exquisite richness of its 
ornament, or the vast magnitude of its dimensions. The whole is contained 
within an irregular oblong enclosure, which has once been obviously used as a 
place of defence, a comparatively small portion of it being occupied by the 
Temple. The portico originally contained eight pillars in front, and fourteen 
on each side, each pillar being six feet three inches in diameter, and reaching, 
base and capital included, a height of seventy feet. The grand doorway is of 
immense size, formed of vast stones, and sculptured with the richest decoration. 
From the marks of fastenings, the entrance was probably with a Curtain or veil, 
as in the Jewish Temple, and in some of the Spanish churches at this day. The 
enclosure is divided into three great courts, in the innermost of which the 
principal building stands." 



B EIR UT. — DA MA SCUS. 269 

This temple has had an extremely varied history. In the reign of 
Constantine it was consecrated as a Christian church ; the Saracens 
captured it and it became a fortress; earthquakes have shattered it, 
but enough remains, after seventeen hundred years, to give an idea of 
its early magnificence. 

The columns of the western portico show of what enormous size 
were the marble blocks which composed the portico, most being of 
two parts only. No cement was used, but the faces were so smoothly 
polished that a knife blade can scarcely be inserted between 
them. 

The doorway has been described as " perhaps the most elaborate 
work, as well as the most exquisite in its detail, of anything of its kind 
in the world. One scroll alone of acanthus leaves, with groups of 
children and panthers intertwined, might form a work of itself. We 
are lost in wonder at the size of the stones and at the nature of the 
machinery by which such masses were raised. An eagle with expanded 
wings hovers in the centre of the lintel, bearing festoons of fruits and 
flowers." 

It was a long and hard day's ride from Damascus, and the party 
only pitched their tents just in sight of the magnificent ruins which 
we have described, reserving a nearer acquaintance with them until 
the next day. 

While they are inspecting the immense columns and stones, we 
will follow Mrs. Remington to Beirut. 

She had hardly ensconced herself in her pleasant room at the 
hotel when she indulged her curiosity by reading Emma's letter. 
Great was her indignation ; but contrary to Emma's expectation, it was 
all turned against the writer of the letter. She had known the facts 
for some time, and they had not troubled her so much as the fear 
that they might become known. And now this had come to pass, 
not through any agency of Frank's or Bird's, but through Emma's 
meddling. Mrs. Remington was no longer opposed to Frank's acknowl- 



270 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



edging Bird's parentage. Indeed, it would be better to announce it at 
once, before Emma could generally report it. All her displeasure was 
diverted from her son to this new mischief-maker who had rendered 
concealment no longer possible. 

As if this was not vexation enough for the little lady, a new and 
real trouble presently fell upon her; for on calling upon Mrs. Bliss, on 
the next day, she learned of Captain Blakeslee's peril. Mrs. Reming- 
ton was really much attached to the young man, and had built many 
air-castles in which he was always the fairy prince and Violet the 
happy princess. She knew that his death would be a heavy blow for 
Violet, — perhaps more than her affectionate, clinging nature could 
bear. Mrs. Remington suffered acutely. All of her annoyance in 
regard to Frank's affairs took a secondary place. To complete her 
despair she met Frank on her way to the hotel. One glance told each 
that the other knew the evil tidings, and Frank had more to give ; for 
he had arrived too late to take the Jaffa steamer, which had sailed 
a few hours before. They strolled aimlessly toward the wharves 
together. "There is a boat just in," Mrs. Remington exclaimed; 
" perhaps it is going south." 

" No," Frank replied ; " it is the steamer that was expected from 
Jaffa." 

They stepped into an archway and waited while the tide of pas- 
sengers poured up the streets. Suddenly Frank sprang forward and 
seized a young man by the shoulder. It was Captain Blakeslee, alive, 
and in full possession of his entire complement of legs and arms, fin- 
gers and toes. Dr. Trotter walked beside him, also a complete man, 
physically. The meeting was a very joyful one, and while Frank 
pulled off his friend's gloves to be sure that not so much as a little 
finger had been left with the Arabs of Petra, Captain Blakeslee 
explained his rescue. 

" We owe it all to a gentleman, — at the time a perfect stranger, 
but now a very good friend of ours, — who happened to be in Hebron 



BEIRUT. — DAMASCUS. 



271 



and to hear of our trouble. He ventured into the camp, paid the heavy 
ransom demanded, and lugged us away triumphantly. We have 
brought him to Beirut with us, for he says he is to meet his daughter 
here. It is entirely owing to him that we are alive at this present 
moment. Allow me, Mrs. Remington, to present my good friend, 
Mr. Baumgarten." 

It would have done Bird's heart good if she could but have seen 
the enthusiasm with which Mrs. Remington greeted her father ; and 




CEDARS OF LEBANON. 



she was satisfied a little later, for Mrs. Remington's gratitude was not 
a momentary impulse. " And how did it happen," Mrs. Remington 
asked, " that you were moved to pay this heavy ransom for perfect 
strangers ? " 

" Oh, zat was one leetle thing," Shear Baumgarten replied mod- 
estly. " I zink how I like to haf my own fingers cut off. and I 
zink I much rather haf my fingers as ze best investment I can 
make wiz zat leetle two three thousand dollar." 

" It is the best investment you ever made, my friend," said Dr. 
Trotter, smiting Mr. Baumgarten upon the shoulder ; and he spoke 
more truly than he knew. 



272 



THREE VASSAR GIRLS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



"And now, where is mine daughter?" Mr. Baumgarten asked. 
" My wife she write me zat Bird set out to tell you ze bad news. I 
haf made myself much anxieties for fear she get herself into some 
trouble already." 

" Bird is safe," Frank replied ; " with my father and sister. Let us 
go to meet them ; it will be a most pleasant surprise." 

They all met in the beautiful cedar grove on Mount Lebanon, — 
the last that remains of the forests that once covered its slopes. 

No more beautiful spot could have been chosen for the double 
betrothal than the aisles of this noble natural cathedral. The giant 
trees, of unknown age, waved their patriarchal arms as in blessing as 
the young lovers wandered in their odorous shade, and the older peo- 
ple rested and chatted together. Even " bractical " Mr. Baumgarten was 
satisfied; for Sir Neville had been moved to create a " travelling pro- 
fessorship " in connection with the college at Beirut, whereby Ameri- 
can and English students of archaeology might be conducted through 
the most interesting fields for exploration in the Orient. Dr. Bliss had 
suggested the advisability of appointing two associate professors to 
this chair, and Captain Blakeslee and Frank Remington had been 
chosen, and the beloved land would henceforward be their home. 



THE END. 



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narrative of the adventures of a party of young men, travelling through the Woods of Maine and New Hamp- 
shire. Stories of their camp life, fishing, shooting, etc. Over 300 illustrations made specially for this work. 
The author is himself an ardent sportsman, as well as a popular and vigorous writer. 

1 vol., quarto, cloth, black and gold, $2.50 

AT THE SIGN OF THE WHITE SWAN . 

By Olivia L. Wilson. An exciting story of life and adventure in the mountains of Western Pennsylvania, told in 

a healthy but spirited style. Interesting alike to boys and girls. Illustrated from original designs by Copeland. 

1 vol., i2mo, cloth, $t 25 

RUBY AND RUTHY. 

By Minnie E. Paull, author of "Prince Dimple," " Cribsie Bye Tales," etc. The adventures and mishaps of 

two little country girls and a friend from the city. Illustrated by Jessie McDermott. 
1 vol., i6mo, cloth, black and gold, jjSi.oo 

TALES OF ANCIENT TROY , 

And the Adventures of Ulysses. Edited by Walter Montgomery. A most valuable book, at the same 

time entertaining and instructive. 
The stories of the ten years' siege of Troy, by the Greeks, and the wanderings of Ulysses and his companions 

returning homeward after the Trojan war, the subjects of Homer's great poems " 1 he Iliad " and " The Odyssey," 

are here told in simple sketches, assisted by numerous graphic illustrations, depicting Ulysses, Hector, Achilles 

and the other heroes of the war. 
1 vol., small quarto, illuminated board covers, . • if 1.25 

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND AND THE MOON . 

By Francis Vescelius and E. J Austen. A strikingly original story of an imaginary visit of a little girl to the 
" Realm of Fancy " and the abode of Santa Claus, which originally appeared in St. Nicholas. Illustrated with 
nearly a hundred original drawings. 

1 vol., quarto, cloth, gold and ink, $1.25 

T HE BOYS OF THE MIRTHFIELD ACADEMY . 

Edited by Laurence H. Francis. 

A book of adventure of students in an English school, describing their school life, sports, &x. Fully illustrated with 

original engravings by well known English artists. 
1 vol., small quarto, illuminated board covers, $1.25 

HILDEGARDE'S HOME. 

By Laura E. Richards. Another volume of the popular " Queen Hildegarde " series, giving an account of the 

haps and mishaps of the heroine in her city home. Illustrated with original designs by Merrill. 
1 vol., 121110, cloth, $1.25 

SIX GIRLS. 

By Fanny Belle Irving. A charming story of every-day home life, pure in sentiment and healthy in tone. A 

"beautiful book for girls. Fully illustrated from original designs. 
1 vol. , small quarto, illuminated board covers and linings, #1.50 

HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 

The standard authorized edition. A new translation from the original Danish edition, complete and unabridged. 

fully illustrated with engravings made from the original drawings, with an appropriate cover designed by L. S. 

Tpsen. 
1 vol., quarto, cloth, $2.25 

FEATHERS, FURS, AND FINS; 

Or, Stories of Animal Like for Children. A collection of the most fascinating stories about birds, fishes, and 
animals, both wild and domestic, with illustrations drawn by the best artists, and engraved in the finest possible 
style by Andrew. 

1 vol., quarto, chromo-lithographed board covers, $1-75 

1 vol., quarto, cloth and gilt, 2.50 

ESTE5 & LAURIAT, Publishers, Boston, Hass. 



THE FAMOUS ZIGZAG SERIES. 

The Most Entertaining and Instructive, the Most Successful and Universally Popular Series 
-of Books for th Young Ever Issued in America. 

Over 300,000 Volumes of the Series have already been sold in this Country alone. 




Vacation 



Zigzag Journeys on tne Mississippi. 

From the Site of the World's Fair to the Tom b 
of Columbus." An account of a trip down this famou^ 
river, across the Gulf of Mexico to Havana. Full o 1 
stories about Columbus and the historic places visited- 



Completely illustrated. 

i vol. small quarto, illuminated board covers and 

linings, . • • Price reduced, 
i vol., small quarto, cloth, bevelled and silt, 
Price reduced, 



|i-5° 



Uniform in style and price with the above, the other 

volumes of the series can be had as follows : 
Zigzag Journeys in Australia ; 

Or a Visit to the Ocean World. Describing the wonderful 
resources and natural advantages of the fifth continent, 
giving an insight into the social relations of the people 
and containing stories of gold discoveries and of the ani- 
mals peculiar to this fascinating country. 

Zigzag Journeys in the Great North-West ; 
Or a trip to the American Switzerland. Giving an ac- 
count of the marvellous growth of our Western Empire, 
with legendary tales of the early explorers. Full of inter- 
esting, instructive, and entertaining stories of the New 
Northwest, the country of the future. 

Zigzag Journeys in the British Isles. 

With excursions among the lakes of Ireland and the hills 
of Scotland. Replete with legend and romance. Over 
ioo illustrations. 

Zigzag Journeys in the Antipodes. 
This volume takes the reader to Siam, and with delightful 
illustration and anecdote, tells him of the interesting ani- 
mal worship of the country. Ninety-six illustrations. 

Zigzag Journeys in Acadia and New France. 
In which the Zigzag Club visits Nova Scotia and Acadia 
— "The Land of Evangeline," — New Brunswick, Can- 
ada, the St. Lawrence, Montreal, Quebec, etc., with 
romantic stories and traditions connnected with the early 
history of the country. 102 illustrations. 



Zigzag Journeys in India ; 

Or, the Antipodes of the Far East. A collection of Zenana" 
Tales. With nearly 100 fine original illustrations. 

Zigzag Journeys in the Sunny South. 

In which the Zigzag Club visits the Southern States and 
the Isthmus of Panama. With romantic stories of early 
voyagers and discoverers of the American continent. 
Seventy-two illustrations. 

Zigzag Journeys in the Levant. 

An account of a tour of the Zigzag Club through Egypt 
and the Holy land, including a trip up the Nile, and visit 
to the ruins of Thebes, Memphis, etc. 114 illustrations. 

Zigzag Journeys in Northern Lands. 

From the Rhine to tiie Arctic Circle. Zigzag Club in 
Holland, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Norway, and 
Sweden, with picturesque views, entertaining stories, etc. 
119 illustrations. 

Zigzag Journeys in the Occident. 

A trip ot the Zigzag Club from Boston to the Golden 
Gate ; including visits to the wheat-fields of Dakota, the 
wonders of the Yellowstone and Yosemite. 148 illustra- 
tions. 

Zigzag Journeys in the Orient. 

A journey of the Zigzag Club from Vienna to the Golden 
Horn, the Euxine, Moscow, and St. Petersburg; contain- 
ing a description of the Great Fair at Nijni- Novgorod, 
etc. 147 illustrations. 

Zigzag Journeys in Classic Lands ; 
Or, Tommy Toby's Trip to Parnassus. An account of a 
tour of the Zigzag Club in France, Italy, Greece, Spain, 
and Portugal. 124 illustrations. 

Zigzag Journeys in Europe ; 

Or, Vacation Rambles in Historic Lands. In which the 
Zigzag Club travels through England, Scotland, Belgium, 
and France; with interesting stories and legends. 126 
illustrations. 



ESTES & LAURIAT, Publishers, Boston, Hass. 



THE FAMOUS VASSAL GIt*h SERIES. 

J^=* Mrs. Champney's fame as the authoress of the delightful series of travels by the 
" Three Vassar Girls," has extended throughout the English-speaking world. 



^*%w^ 




Th ree Vassar Girls in the Holy Land. 

The Vassar Girls in this volume travel through the East, 
from Egypt and the mouth of the Nile through Palestine 
to Jerusalem. Illustrated with characteristic pictures of 
scenery, etc. 
i vol., small quarto, illuminated board covers and 

linings, ........ #1.50 

1 vol., small quarto, cloth, bevelled and gilt, . . 2.00 

Uniform in style and price with the above, the other 
volumes of the series can be had as follows : 

Three Vassar Girls in the Tyrol. 

An entertaining description of the travels of our Vassar 
friends through this well known country, giving an inter- 
esting account of the Passion Play at Ober Ammergau. 
Illustrated by " Champ "and others. 

Three Vassar Girls in Switzerland. 
By Elizabeth W. Champney An exceedingly inter- 
esting story interwoven with bits of S'<iss life, historic 
incidents, and accounts of happenings at Geneva, Lu- 
cerne, and the Great St. Bernard. Illustrated by 
" Champ " and others. 

Three Vassar Girls in Russia and Turkey. 

During the exciting scenes and events of the late Turko- 
Russian war, with many adventures, both serious and 
comic. Profusely illustrated from original designs, by 
" Champ" and others. 

Three Vassar Girls in France. 

A story of the siege of Paris. A thrilling account of ad- 
ventures when Germany and France were engaged in 
their terrible struggle. Ninety-seven illustrations by 
" Champ," Detaille and DeNeuville. 

Three Vassar Girls at Home. 
Travels through some of our own States and Territories, 
with many interesting adventures. Ninety-seven illus- 
trations by " Champ." 

Three Vassar Girls on the Rhine. 

Full of amusing incidents of the voyage and historic 
stories of the castles and towns along the route. 12S illus- 
trations by " Champ" and others. 



Three Vassar Girls in Italy. 

Travels through the vineyards of Italy, visiting all the 
large cities, and passing some time in Rome, in the Vati- 
can, the Catacombs, etc. 107 illustrations. 

Three Vassar Girls in South America. 

A trip through the heart of South America, up the Ama- 
zon, across the Andes, and along the Pacific coast to 
Panama. 1 12 illustrations. 

Three Vassar Girls in England. 

Sunny memories of a holiday excursion of three college 
girls in the mother country, with visits to historic scenes 
and notable places. Ninety-eight illustrations. 

Three Vassar Girls Abroad. 

The vacation rambles of three college girls on a European 
trip for amusement and instruction, with their haps and 
mishaps. Ninety-two illustrations. 



NEW SERIKS. 



Great Grandmother's Girls in New Mexico. 

By Elizabeth W. Champney. This is the second vol- 
,ume of this delightful series describing incidents in the 
life of a quaint little maiden who lived in the time of the 
Spanish adventurers. Illustrated by "Champ." 
1 vol., Svo, chromo-lithographed board covers, . $1.75 
1 vol., 8vo, cloth, gilt, ...... 2.50 

Great Grandmother's Girls in France. 

By Elizabeth W. Champney. A charming volume for 
girls, consisting of romantic stoties (f the heroines in the 
early colonial days — their privations and courage. 
1 vol., Svo, chromo-lithographed board covers, . $1.75 
1 vol., Svo, cloth gilt, . . . . . . 2 50 

" A beautiful volume and one that cannot fail to arouse 
intense interest." — Toledo Blade. 

"An excellent present for a boy or girl." — Boston Trati- 
scrifit. 



ESTES & LAURIAT, Publishers, Boston, Mass. 



THE FAMOUS "KNOCKABOUT CLUB" SERIES. 



" Delightful and wholesome books of stirring out-door adventure for healthy American 
boys ; books whose steadily increasing popularity is but a well earned recognition of 
intrinsic merit." 




THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN SEARCH OF TREASURE . 

By Fred A. Ober. In which the Club explores the mountains of Mexico, visiting the site of old Aztec mines in 
search of the lost mines of the Montezumas. This is one of the most interesting of this entertaining series which 
combines so well exciting adventures and facts of real interest. 



i vol., small quarto, illuminated board covers and linings, 
i vol., -small quarto, cloth, bevelled and gilt, . 



Uniform in style and price with the above, the other volumes of the series can be had as follows : 
THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN NORTH AFRICA. 

By Fred A. Ober. An .nccount of a trip along the coast of the Dark Continent, caravan journeys, and a visit to a 
pirate city, with stories of lion hunting and life among the Moors. Fully illustrated. 

THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN SPAIN. 

^nuT^t 2 BER V n ? an ° ri ! m * ° f Sevi . lle > the Guadalquivir, the Palaces of the Moors, the Alhambra, Madrid, 
tfull-nghts, etc. Full of original illustrations, many full page. ' 

THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE ANTILLES. 

^aJcomi^ied^^ from FIorida to South America, 

accompanied by a Special Artist. 78 illustrations. ' 

THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE EVERGLADES. 

By Fred A. Ober A visit to Florida for the purpose of exploring Lake Okechobee, on which trip the bovs en 
counter various obstacles and adventures with aligators, etc. 55 illustrations. P ° 

THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE TROPICS. 

%?.' A A /J, T »l H 7* Fr T ^ Ic ?- fields ° f the North to the plains of New Mexico, thence through the "Land of 
.tecs, and the wonderful rums of Central America, to the Queen of the Antilles." 105 illustrations. 



THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB ALONGSHORE. 



By Sc C enet, S a^i^ «*» Ascriptions of seal-fishing, Arctic 

THE KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE WOODS 



ESTES & LAURIAT, Publishers, Boston, Hass. 



YOUNG FOLKS' HISTORIES 

YOUNG FOLKS' HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 

A concise history of Holland and Belgium, from the earliest times, in which the author goes over the ground 
covered by Motley in his standard histories of these most interesting countries, and brings the narrative down tl > 
the present time. By Alexander Young. 150 illustrations. 

fOUNG FOLKS' HISTORY OF AMERICA. 

v rom the earliest times to the present. A new edition. With a chapter and additional illustrations on the Life and 
Death of President Garfield. Edited by H. Butterworth, author of "Zigzag Journeys." With 157 illustra- 
tions. Over 10,000 copies sold in one year. 

YOUNG FOLKS' HISTORY OF MEXICO. 

Comprising the principle events from the sixth century to the present time By Fred. A. Ober, author of " Camps 

in the Caribbees." With 100 illustrations. 
The intimate relations of our country with Mexico, which the railroads and mines are developing, make this volume 

one of the most important in the entire series. 

YOUNG FOLKS' HISTORY OF RUSSIA. 

By Nathan Haskell Jole. With no illustrations. 

THE CREAT CITIES OF THE WORLD. 

YOUNG FOLKS' HISTORY OF LONDON. 

With graphic stories of its historic landmarks. By W. H. Rideing. With 100 illustrations. 

YOUNG FOLKS' HISTORY OF BOSTON. 

By H. Butterworth, author of "Zigzag Journeys," etc. With 140 illustrations. 

CHARLOTTE M. YONGE. YOUNG FOLKS' HISTORIES. 

YOUNG FOLKS' BIBLE HISTORY. With 132 illustrations. 

YOUNG FOLKS' HISTOKY OF ENGLAND. With 60 illustrations by De Neuville, E. Bayard and others. 

YOUNG FOLKS' HISTOKY OF FRANCE. With 84 illustrations by A. De Neuville, E. Bayard and others. 

YOUNG FOLKS' HISTOKY OF ROME. With 114 illustrations. 

YOUNG FOLKS' HISTOKY OF GREECE. With 51 illustrations. 

YOUNG FOLKS' HISTORY OF GERMANY. With S2 illustrations. 

YOUNG FOLKS' EPOCHS OF HISTORY. 

YOUNG FOLKS' HISTORY OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

A concise and impartial account of the lat2 war, for young people, from the best authorities both North and South 
By Mrs. C. Emma Cheney. Illustrated with 100 engravings, maps and plans. 

YOUNG FOLKS' HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 

In Germany, Fra\ce, England and othhr Countries By Fred H. Allen. A graphic account of the men 
and the movements by which the great religious revolution which resulted in the establishment of Protestantism 
was carried on, from the early centuries of Christianity to the end of the Reformation. Fully illustrated. 

YOUNG FOLKS' HISTORY OF THE QUEENS OF SCOTLAND. 

These valuable books are condensed from Strickland's Queens of Scotland by Rosalie Kaufman, and are at once 
reliable and entertaining to both old and young folks. Fully illustrated. 2 vols., 161110, cloth. . *•> 00 . 

YOUNG FOLKS' HISTORY OF THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND. 

From the Norman Conquest. Founded on Strickland's Queens of England. Abridged, adapted and continued tn 
the present time. By Rosalie Kaufman. With nearly 300 illustrations. 3 vols., i6mo, cloth . #4.50 

LIBRARY OF ENTERTAINING HISTORY. 

Edited by Arthur Gilman, M. A. 
INDIA. By Fannie Roper Feudge. With 100 illustrations, . 
EGYPT. By Mrs. Clara Erskine Clement. With 10S illustrations, 
SPAIN. By Prof. James Herbert Harrison. With hi illustrations, 
SWITZERLAND. By Miss Harriet D. S. Mackenzie. With 100 illustrations, 
HiSTORY OF AMERICAN PEOPLE. Wi.h , 75 illustrations, . 

All the above volumes are published as 16mos, in cloth, at $1.50. 

ESTES & LHURIHT, Publishers, 
BOSTON, MASS. 



51.50 
i.so 
1.50 
1.50 
1.50 



HOUSEHOLD NECESSITIES. 



SOCIAL* CUSTOMS. 

New edition, reduced in price. Complete Manual of American Etiquette. By Florence 
Howe Hall, daughter of Mrs. Julia Ward Howe. Handsomely printed, and neatly bound in 
extra cloth, gilt top, uncut. Small 8vo. $1.75 

Do you always know just what to do ? Do you know how tp encourage Mrs. D. Light" 
ful, accept and return her courtesies, as they deserve ; and politely but firmly avoid and defeat 
Mrs. Bore in her inroads on your privacy and more agreeable engagements? If you do not, let us 
recommend for every social question the above entertaining and instructive book, or its new 
baby relative, "The Correct Thing," mentioned below, for with these two books, one can 
make no mistake in life, as every possible question may be answered from their combined 
wisdom. They are comprehensive, practical, reliable and authoritative. 

THE COP^ECT Tfll^G. 

By Florence Howe Hall, author of "Social Customs." i8mo. Very neatly bound in 

extra cloth, gilt top, $0.75 

Same, Bound in full flexible morocco, gilt edges (in a box). $1.25 

This new manual is neatly printed in a size not too large to be slipped into the pocker, and 
is arranged so that one page reminds the reader that " It is the correct thing " to d& this, 
while per contra the opposite page tells him that '<It is not the correct thing " to do that. 
Its conciseness recommends it to many who would not take the time to master any more compre- 
hensive manual. 

" It is, indeed, a treasure of good counsel, and, like most advice, it has the merit of not 
being expensive." — Montreal Gazette. 

Pfl^IiOA'S ^ITGHEfl COJWPAfilOri. 

A Guide for All who would be Good Housekeepers. 

Handsomely printed, and very fully illustrated. Large 8vo. (nearly 1000 pages). Neatly 
bound in extra cloth or in waterproof binding. -------- $2.50 

J^= It is thoroughly practical ; it is perfectly reliable ; it is marvellously comprehensive ; 
it is copiously illustrated. It is, in short, overflowing with good qualities, and is just the book 
that all housekeepers need to guide them. 

Miss Parloa's new book has proved a remarkable success, and it could hardly have been 
otherwise. Exhaustive in its treatment of a subject of the highest importance to all, the result 
of years of conscientious study and labor upon the part of one who has been called "the apostle 
of the renaissance in domestic service," it could not be otherwise than 
welcome to every intelligent housekeeper in the land. 



"This is the most comprehensive volume that Miss Parloa has 
ever prepared, and, as a trusty companion and guide for all who are 
travelling on the road to good housekeeping, it must soon become a 

necessity No amount of commendation seems to do justice 

to it." — Good Housekeeper. 

PAlRLiOR'S riECU COOI^ BOOI^ AfiD ^AP^ET^ 
IflG GUIDE. 




i2mo. Cloth. $1-50 

This is one of the most popular Cook Books ever printed, con- 
taining 1724 receipts and itams of instruction. The directions are clear 
and concise, and the chapters on marketing and kitchen furnishing 

very useful. 



ESTES St LHURIHT, 

BOSTON, MASS. 

F5V 



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